The Chinese Ministry of Public Security has launched a campaign to sort out household registration information and aims to make every registration and identification number unique next year, West China Metropolis Daily reports, citing a ministry official.

Last year, the ministry kicked off a three-year initiative to sort out all household registration records in a move to set up a population database that is fundamental to realizing all-purpose ID cards for citizens in future, an official told the newspaper.

At a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang in early May, the latter criticized some government agencies over creating barriers for ordinary people with ridiculous red tape.

Making household registration and ID numbers unique for every citizen would provide the necessary data platform for ID cards to function with ease for social security and identification certification purposes. Based on the achievements of the campaign, the ministry will gradually add more functions to a citizen's ID card.

The latest move will help ease burdens on individuals, cut workloads for grassroots public security officers and raise efficiency, it was stated.