The supervision and tracking of goods and services in China will
be enhanced by a government push to develop Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) technology in the country.
RFID technology uses an antenna and transceiver (often combined
into one reader) and a transponder (the tag) along with
electromagnetic signals to uniquely identify items.
The technology affects the lives of everyone living and working
in China, said Zhang Zhiwen from the Department of High-Tech
Development and Industrialization, under the Ministry of Science
and Technology.
"For example, currently if you post a parcel it seems that it
disappears and is out of your control, without knowing how it is
going along the way," he said on Friday at the launch of the China
RFID Technology and Policy White Book.
However, with the help of an RFID tag, which can be fastened to
a parcel, people can follow the parcel at any stage in its journey
using a reader or a computer.
China Post is carrying out a pilot project in Shanghai using
RFID technology to help people track their parcels, Zhang said.
RFID technology is emerging as an alternative to the bar code,
which is currently widely used to identify goods.
The radio frequency technology is more complicated and can store
more information about the goods it identifies.
The new white book, which explains China's policy on developing
the technology, was jointly compiled by 15 departments under the
State Council, including Zhang's ministry.
RFID technology is developing quickly in China and worldwide,
Zhang said.
Used with the Internet, RFID can assist in the tracking of goods
and information-sharing in a global sense, said Ma Songde, science
and technology vice-minister.
Gradually, the technology will be widely used in public
security, production management and control, logistics, food and
drug management, anti-counterfeiting, and in the management of big
events such as the Olympic Games.
"For the Olympic Games, an RFID tag with a visitor's details
could be attached to a ticket to guard against false tickets,"
Zhang said.
In Shanghai, pets can be fitted with RFID tags on their ears or
elsewhere on their bodies for their owners to monitor their health,
location and other conditions.
As part of a pilot RFID program in China, the first batch of
RFID tags were affixed to the bodies of 1,000 live pigs in Sichuan Province last month to help track
epidemics, the website www.chinarfidnews.com reported.
With a tag in place, the pig's breeding, butchering and
distribution can be easily checked.
However, the price of the tags and related monitors is still
quite high because research and production costs are expensive.
The cost of an RFID tag ranges from 15 US cents to US$100
depending on its objectives.
The government will provide favorable policies to companies
using this technology to encourage them to be more innovative and
improve manufacturing, Ma said.
Companies developing RFID technology in China are mostly small
and need to cooperate with one another and devote more effort to
research, said Yin Hong, assistant of General Manager of Shanghai
Zhangjiang (Group) Co Ltd.
(China Daily June 10, 2006)