Border authorities at Gongbei Port to collect foreigners’ fingerprints

Beijing. May 2. Silkroadnews - Border control authorities in South China’s Guangdong Province will start taking foreigners’ fingerprints at Gongbei Port in Zhuhai for the purposes of further national security strengthening, Global Times reports.
All foreign passport holders aged between 14 and 70 will have their fingerprints collected and stored at Gongbei Port, which sees the largest passenger volume in China. Those holding diplomatic passports or those under reciprocal conditions are exempt, and those who refuse to have their fingerprints collected will be refused entry into China, the report reads.
Collecting and storing biometric data including fingerprints is a significant step in tightening China’s border control, cracking down on illegal immigrants and safeguarding Chinese citizens’ rights and national security.
Reportedly, a total of 1.60 million foreign travelers exited and entered China through Gongbei Port in 2017.
The Zhuhai frontier inspection station has already upgraded and tested its new system, installed fingerprint collecting equipment and put up signs to inform foreign travelers of the new practice.
Gongbei Port is the latest place in China to start collecting foreigners’ fingerprints, after the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) first tested the measure in Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in Guangdong on February 10, 2017.
According to the MPS, collecting and storing fingerprints of foreigners is already an international practice in many countries.
Foreign passport holders exited and entered China 76.3 million times in 2016 alone. Also in 2016, about 14.2 million foreign travelers entered for tourism purposes, up by 72 percent from the previous year, the publication says. With this, border control authorities across China caught 2,705 people illegally exiting or entering China in 2016.