China decided on Thursday to gradually register fingerprint information of all foreigners at nationwide ports of entry, a measure to reinforce border control.



The Ministry of Public Security will start to pilot the scheme at Shenzhen airport in South China's Guangdong Province on Friday, collecting the fingerprints of foreigners aged between 14 and 70, according to a statement released on the website of the ministry on Thursday.



The ministry said collecting biodata from those who enter China's territory aims to strengthen border management, which is an international practice, the China News Service reported.



Terrorists coming to China with fake identity documents were one of the concerns when the public security authorities rolled out the policy, Wu Shaozhong, an intelligence expert from the People's Public Security University, said.



Biodata is more reliable than the information shown in passports, considering that officers from exit and entry administrations may not be used to the facial features of certain foreigners, so the difference between the pictures on their passports and their faces might be overlooked, a Beijing-based expert who asked for anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.



"Without fingerprints, it is more difficult to trace back terrorists if they replace the photos on real passports," the expert said.



Exceptions to the rule include foreigners who hold diplomatic passports and delegations led by officials at vice-ministerial level or above.



China's top legislature reformed exit and entry laws in July 2012, introducing a common international practice by which immigration authorities may collect fingerprints and other biodata from those who exit or enter China's territory, the Xinhua News Agency reported in August 2013.



Countries like the EU members, Russia, Singapore and Thailand have already included fingerprint information in the electronic passports while the US, the UK, Japan, and South Korea have begun to issue visas containing biodata or collect fingerprints of foreigners when entering the nations, the ministry said in 2012.



The number of foreigners entering China has been increasing by 10 percent annually since 2000, the ministry said. In 2016, the number of foreigners crossing Chinese borders reached 76.31 million.



China's police organs have collected immigrants' fingerprints since 2005 to improve the efficiency of immigration procedures and protect national security.



For Chinese citizens, China's police departments have issued a new, microchipped ordinary passport which contains digitized data of the bearer's fingerprint and signature starting from 2012.