Chinese will have to show ID to buy firecrackers for New Year: Report

Jan 14 (AZINS) Those who wish to buy fireworks in China's capital Beijing during the upcoming Spring Festival will have to present their identity document so that they can be punished in case of an accident, according to a media report.

Chinese New Year celebrations, also known as the Spring Festival is an annual event held in China and in Chinese communities around the world.

This massive event takes place on different dates each year, but it typically begins during the beginning of February and continues until the middle of the same month.

Tang Mingming, an official from the Beijing Emergency Management Bureau, said that the city will cut the retail outlets of fireworks from around 80 to 30 and sales will only take place from January 30 to February 9.

Each outlet will be equipped with special devices to identify buyers with their ID cards, and if safety problems occur, the buyers will be punished, Tang said, China Daily reported.

Beijing has already banned fireworks within the Fifth Ring Road in recent years, and some districts also banned fireworks in certain regions. Tang said that the Tongzhou district, Beijing's sub-center, will completely ban fireworks this year, the report said.

Many Chinese cities have banned fireworks during Spring Festival, considering the potential for air pollution and injuries. Beijing's neighboring city Tianjin has banned fireworks across the whole city during the upcoming Spring Festival.

Last week, Xiongan New Area's Rongcheng county in North China's Hebei province also issued an entire ban on fireworks during the upcoming Spring Festival.