China will require all mobile phone users to register in the near future in an effort to stem rampant telephone fraud and illegal text massaging, an expert with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said.

Under the new regulation, about 200 million mobile phone subscribers who use prepaid cards will be asked to register with their telecom operator such as China Mobile and China Unicom.

The subscribers will have their services cut off if they don't comply with the regulation, said Chen Yuping, director of the exchanging center with the MII's telecommunication institute.

The new regulation is expected to be issued this month, Chen said during an interview at Sina.com.

Chinese customers usually have two choices when buying a mobile phone, They can be billed for service at the end of each month in which case they must register with an ID card, or they can also simply buy a prepaid phone card from a local vendor.

The new regulation will require the latter to register all users, Chen said, adding the practice was started two years ago on a trial basis in Shanghai.

China now has around 380 million mobile phone subscribers as of the end of October this year, the MII statistics show.

Source: Xinhua