Lawmakers call for dual nationality check

Lawmakers have urged the government to address the trend of holding dual nationality, which is illegal in China.

Jin Shuoren, a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said on Thursday that although being a citizen of two or even more countries at the same time is not allowed in China, it has become an increasingly popular practice and the government needs to take more action to deal with it.


Hukou, a household registration system

"The government should set up a system holding nationality information by compiling data from different agencies to compare and find out about holders of dual nationality," he said.

The lawmaker said many reasons have contributed to the growing number of people with dual nationality.

"Some citizens applied to renounce their nationality after moving to another country, but their information is not shared in a timely manner between foreign affairs offices and public security officials, and that has given rise to the trend." Apart from different information systems, Chen Yiyu, a member of the NPC Standing Committee argued some Chinese, after migrating overseas, do not tell public security officials they have changed their nationality, and continue to keep their hukou and identity cards for their convenience.

Hukou, a household registration system, as well as one's identity card, is widely required in daily life in China, and is needed to open a bank account or buy a car.