Asked if there will differences in how online identity will be handled in China compared to other nations such as India, with its Aadhaar identifier, or France, whose France Connect allows residents to authenticate their identity to most government departments based on a verified identity already provided to another department, he said he expects that to be the case.

“China is proposing a National Digital ID in three forms: an alphanumeric identifier, an ID certificate, and online credentials,” said Jain. “This approach is similar to other countries like Estonia, which uses eID, Smart ID, and Mobile ID. However, it differs slightly from India’s system, which was built for a similar population size, where Aadhaar serves as a numeric identifier and a card. For online transactions, Aadhaar relies on one-time passwords sent to registered cellphones, enhancing its security.”

Another key difference, he said, is that in China’s proposal, regulatory accountability and operational governance are vested in two existing regulatory bodies: the Public Security Department and the National Cyberspace Administration.