China's Public Security Ministry on Friday opened a website for citizens to verify individual identity cards.

Any ID card can be verified for a 5 yuan (73 US cents) online payment at the site, www.nciic.org.com, with a few seconds.

The system is intended to facilitate transactions where ID is needed, such as online trading and apartment rentals, where fake IDs are often used.

The system was already in use for government departments, financial institutions and telecom companies to protect their security and prevent payments in arrears.

It has also been used during national tests to verify the test-taker's ID and crack down on impostors.

The ministry has stored about 1.3 billion pieces of ID information on China's legal residents.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2008)