According to the Qingdao Exit-Entry Administration Bureau, the first Passport Law since the founding of the PRC will be put into effect on January 1st 2007. The new law sets clearly the relevant procedures and the time limit for applicati on and stipulates the Chinese citizens limited from applying for a passport.

　　According to the law, the Chinese applicant can have a passport within 15 days under normal procedures. People can renew their passports twice on the expiration date for 5 more years each. Those passports due to expire before June 30th next year,can either be extended by the end of this year, or be replaced by new ones after expiration. The validity of the new passport will be extended from 5 years to 10 years. The term for all the passports issued from January 1st 2007 onward will be 10 years.