A proposal giving police the power to check ID cards during emergencies and to have people's fingerprints embedded in the cards is being submitted to lawmakers on Monday.

Li Huanning, China's vice-minister of public security, told legislators the Resident Identity Cards Law has been revised as a police officers' right to verify a person's identity under the current regulations is "too narrow".

The draft entitles the police to carry out checks at "railway stations, coach stations, ports, wharfs, airports or other areas the city governments had specified during major events".

Under the current law, the police are only able to verify a person's identity if they are considered a criminal suspect, in a serious security emergency, or in other cases in accordance with laws.

The draft also ruled the first generation of ID cards will become invalid by Jan 1, 2013, and fingerprints will be embedded into the second generation of cards to prevent identity fraud.

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