(ECNS) -- A total of 72 cities in China are increasingly well connected through the use of a one-card pass as the country pushes for smart city initiatives, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Wednesday.
Card users can enjoy local discount preferences for public transportation and make payments for goods and services. They can also use it to rent public bicycles and take subways in some member cities.
According to the IC card application service center at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, 750 million IC cards have been issued, among which 150 million can be used in other cities that have joined the one-card pass system.
The ministry launched the system in 2012, attracting eight cities -- Shanghai, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Huzhou, Taizhou, Changshu, Lanzhou and Baiyin -- to adopt the system by July that year.
By 2015, more than 190 cities were undergoing preparations to join the system, including all four metropolises and 90 percent of provincial capitals, covering more than 700 million people.
A national committee, which is responsible for administrating standards for digital techniques used to build intelligent residential communities, introduced the technical standards in July 2015, and they became effective in February 2016.
