Do not lend identity documents or use someone else’s ID for registration, cards, or tickets
Renting, lending, or transferring your resident identity card can bring a warning and a fine up to RMB 200. Using someone else’s ID or a fraudulently obtained ID can bring RMB 200–1,000 or up to ten days’ detention. Serious use of forged or stolen identity documents in activities requiring identity verification can be criminal.
What it takes
Nothing. Decline requests to borrow your identity card. When providing a copy for a legitimate purpose, mark what that copy is for.
What you may gain
Under the Resident Identity Card Law, renting, lending, or transferring your card brings a warning and a fine up to RMB 200. Impersonating someone using their card, using a fraudulently obtained card, or buying, selling, or using a forged or altered card can bring RMB 200–1,000 or up to ten days’ detention. Where national rules require proof of identity, serious use of forged, altered, or stolen identity documents can lead to criminal detention or public surveillance and a fine or a fine alone. The covered documents include identity cards, passports, social security cards, and driving licenses.
Context & considerations
A lent identity card may be used to incorporate a company or open a bank account; see nominal company roles and lending accounts. Rail-ticket purchases and hotel registration are examples of activities requiring identity documents. The original found no verified official case to include here.
Research & references
Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (amended 2011). Resident Identity Card Law, Articles 16 and 17, reposted by Beijing’s traffic-management bureau. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/203777/index.html; National People’s Congress (2020). Criminal Law consolidated through Amendment XI, Article 280-1. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html.