The Shenzhen exit and entry administration under the municipal public security bureau said the number of applicants for new-edition passports that were introduced Jan. 1 has been much the same as last year's monthly number.

"More than 90,000 passports were issued in Shenzhen in 2006, about 7,500 a month," said Ning Jian, secretary section chief of the administration.

The new passports for people aged above 16 have a validity of 10 years, doubling the previous 5-year validity. Those under 16 years old still have a five-year validity. The holders of old passports can apply to exchange them for new passports within half a year's validity of the old-edition passports, according to the Passport Law.

Meanwhile a two-year extension of passports is canceled. People should now apply for new ones when old ones expire.

The administration handled 1.53 million exit and entry certificates last year, among which more than 20,000 were foreigners' residence permits and visas." All the applications were processed within the promised time limit," said Bian Dongfeng, the administration's vice director.

Bian said applicants for passports and Hong Kong and Macao travel permits could usually get the certificates one to three days ahead of the promised period of 15 work days, as the administration is exempted from double-check by the provincial authorities on certificate-handling due to their zero data error.

"We also strictly stick to the promise of handling foreigners' residence permits and visas within five work days. For urgent applications and green-channeled enterprises, we usually finish within three work days," said Bian.

"I've been in Shenzhen for 10 years, and have been visiting the administration a lot. They moved from the old building to the brand-new one. And the officers are also and better trained," said A. K. Barai, a Bangladeshi working in Shenzhen.

The administration was recently commended by the Ministry of the Public Security for its outstanding services.

Editor: Donald