Identity verification in China
China (People's Republic of China, PRC) is the world's second-largest economy, home to ~1.4 billion people, and operates one of the most tightly controlled identity, payments and data environments on the planet. Every adult citizen carries a chip-enabled Resident Identity Card (居民身份证) backed by the Ministry of Public Security's National Citizen Identity Information Center (NCIIC) — the single sour
Documents supported
(Government IDs from 220+ countries)
Average verification time
Countries covered
(Government-issued IDs validated)
Market overview
China is the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and the largest by purchasing power parity, with a population of roughly 1.4 billion. Internet penetration exceeds 1.1 billion users, smartphone penetration is near-universal in urban areas, and mobile payments have all but replaced cash — Alipay and WeChat Pay together capture roughly 90% of the mobile payments market, with Alipay alone reporting over 1 billion annual active users. The financial sector is dominated by four state-owned megabanks — ICBC, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China — alongside a second tier of joint-stock and city commercial banks, and a large but tightly supervised fintech sector (Ant Group, Tencent Financial, Lufax, JD Technology). Digital-only banks such as WeBank (Tencen
Supported documents
Didit templates cover national IDs, passports, residence permits and regional documents — plus 14,000+ documents globally for cross-border flows.
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) via local Public Security Bureaus
Polycarbonate card with contactless RFID chip; 18-digit ID number; issued from age 16 (optional 0-15)
The universal identifier. The 18-digit number encodes birthplace, DOB and a checksum. Machine-read chip content is only decodable by MPS-authorised readers — third-party vendors cannot read the ch
National Immigration Administration (NIA) / MPS Exit-Entry
ICAO-compliant e-passport with chip
The main document for Mainland citizens onboarding with foreign regulated entities, since NCIIC lookup is unavailable offshore.
Local Public Security Bureau
Paper booklet — household registration
Still occasionally required for banking, property and civil-status matters. Not practical for remote KYC.
MPS Exit-Entry Administration
Polycarbonate card, chip
Used for Mainland cross-border travel and banking. Now frequently used as a proxy identity token by HK/Macau users onboarding to Mainland-linked services.
MPS Exit-Entry Administration
Polycarbonate card, chip
Equivalent function for Taiwan residents.
NIA / MPS
Polycarbonate card, chip, 18-digit number beginning with country code
Redesigned 2023. Supports verification through NCIIC and, in principle, through regulated bank KYC systems.
Issuing country + NIA
Book + visa or residence permit
Required for foreign nationals onboarding Mainland banks and fintechs; validity is always cross-checked against NIA entry records by onshore banks.
Regulators
Circular on Further Preventing and Disposing of Speculative Risks in Virtual Currency Trading — co-signed by the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security, Cy
NCIIC (National Citizen ID Information Center) / MPS
restricted
1.4B records. Access restricted to domestic licensed entities
MPS
regulated
Launched July 2025; voluntary digital ID tokens for online services
PBOC/NDRC
restricted
SAMR
open
Government & regulated databases
Compliance framework
AML framework
Supervised by PBOC led a ten-agency notice
Anti-Money Laundering Law (AML Law). The PRC's primary AML statute is the Anti-Money Laundering Law of the People's Republic of China, originally enacted in 2006. On 8 November 2024, the NPC Standing Committee passed a comprehensive revision of the AML Law which took effect on 1 January 2025. The revised law for the first time explicitly requires obliged institutions to identify and verify the beneficial owners of their customers, expands the scope of "money laundering" beyond the traditional se
Data protection
Supervised by National DPA
The data-protection trilogy — CSL (2017) + DSL (2021) + PIPL (2021) — imposes some of the strictest localisation and cross-border transfer rules of any major market:
Penalties for non-compliance
- DiDi Global (DiDi Chuxing). On 21 July 2022, the CAC announced a fine of RMB 8.026 billion (~USD 1.2 billion) against DiDi for violations of PIPL, DSL and CSL — close to the 5% maximum under PIPL. CAC cited illegal processing of more than 64.7 billion pieces of personal information, forced collect
Use cases
Neobanks, EMIs, payment institutions, lenders, brokerages.
Regulated PRC fintechs operate a high-automation, low-friction flow anchored on the Three Verifications + Face Recognition principle mandated under PBOC CDD Rules:
Exchanges, custodians, wallets, on/off-ramps.
Cryptocurrency is a special case: it is effectively banned. The 24 September 2021 PBOC-led ten-agency circular declared all crypto-related business activities illegal financial activities in China, including token issuance, crypto-fiat and crypto-crypto exchange, OTC matching, derivatives, and expli
Sports betting, online casinos, age-gated platforms.
Online gambling is prohibited on the Mainland under the Criminal Law and the State Council's repeated anti-gambling campaigns led by MPS. All online casinos, sports betting, lottery services and "social casino" apps targeting Mainland residents are unlawful. Cross-border operators face aggressive en
Gig platforms, delivery, creator economy, e-commerce.
Marketplaces, ride-hailing, delivery, livestreaming and social platforms are bound by a dense web of real-name requirements:
Biometric liveness
China is the global leader by volume of facial-recognition deployment. The regulatory environment around biometrics, however, has tightened sharply since 2023. - PIPL classifies facial and biometric information as sensitive personal information, requiring separate consent, a documented necessity justification, and heightened security. - On 14 September 2024, the National Technical Committee 260 on Cybersecurity (TC260) released TC260-PG-20244A — Practical Guide to Cybersecurity Standard: Guide f
CERTIFICATIONS
Our platform meets the highest international standards for information security, data privacy, and biometric accuracy.
Full EU data protection compliance
Information security management
PAD (liveness + face match)
TRUSTED WORLDWIDE
Join thousands of companies that trust Didit for their verification needs
Didit’s NFC + active biometrics technology blocks the most advanced fraud scenarios, offering a level of security equivalent to or superior to in-person verification.
Spanish Financial Sandbox
CNMV, SEPBLAC & Spanish Treasury — Conclusions Report
Didit is an exceptionally valuable partner, delivering a stable and highly adaptable solution”.
Vuk Adžić
Head of the E-Business Department at Crnogorski Telekom
Didit offered us a robust technology with a simple implementation and adaptability to different markets”.
Fernando Pinto
CEO & CoFounder at TucanPay
Thanks to Didit we have been able to reduce manual processes and improve data extraction accuracy”.
Diana Garcia
Trust & Safety Executive at Shiply
Didit’s integration slashed verification times and costs, freeing resources for other projects”.
Guillem Medina
COO at GBTC Finance
Didit removed KYC costs, enabling faster scaling with high verification standards and less fraud.”
Paul Martin
VP Marketing & Growth at Bondex
Didit’s secure, user-friendly verification boosts customer trust and optimizes our process.”
Cristofer Montenegro
Executive assistant to the CEO at Adelantos
Didit ensures a precise, secure digital onboarding without slowing negotiations or client time.”
Ernesto Betancourth
Gerente de riesgos at CrediDemo
FAQ
Yes. China permits remote KYC onboarding under its national AML framework, including document verification, biometric liveness and video identification where required by regulation.
Didit verifies all major national IDs, passports and residence permits issued in China, plus 14,000+ document types globally for cross-border flows.
Didit charges $0.30 per verification with 500 free checks per month. No contracts, no minimums. Competitors typically charge $1.00–$2.50+ per verification.
Yes. Didit screens against 1,000+ global watchlists including PEP databases, sanctions lists (EU, UN, OFAC, OFSI), and adverse media — covering all AML obligations in China.
Most regulated sectors in China require or strongly recommend biometric liveness detection for remote onboarding. Didit provides ISO 30107-3 PAD Level 2 certified liveness.
Yes. Didit supports document verification, liveness, AML screening and ongoing monitoring aligned with China’s crypto regulatory framework, including EU Travel Rule compliance where applicable.
Yes. Didit provides document-based age verification and identity confirmation suitable for China’s iGaming regulatory requirements.
500 free verifications per month. No contracts, no minimums. $0.30 per verification after the free tier.
