Don't lend your ID card, don't use someone else's, and don't use another person's documents to register, open a card or buy a ticket

Cost

Free. If someone asks to borrow it, just say no. If you must give a copy, write on the copy what single matter it is used for.

What you get

Renting out, lending or transferring your own resident identity card to another person brings a warning and a fine of up to 200 CNY. Using someone else's ID card, or one obtained by deception, brings a fine of 200 to 1,000 CNY or detention of up to 10 days (拘留). Buying, selling or using a forged or altered ID card falls in the same tier. In some situations the state requires proof of identity to be shown. Using a forged, altered or stolen document in those situations leads, in serious cases, to a criminal sentence. Documents include ID cards, passports, social security cards, driver's licenses and so on. The punishment is criminal detention (拘役, short-term custody) or public surveillance (管制, not locked up but with restricted movement), with a fine in addition or a fine alone, which means a fine on top of the sentence, or possibly a fine only (China)

Notes

An ID card you lend out may be used to register a company or open bank cards. For the consequences of those two, see §8.28, §8.8 (don't be a figurehead legal representative, don't lend out your bank card). Buying a train ticket or checking into a hotel with someone else's ID card falls under what the statute calls "activities in which proof of identity must be provided." No official case was found for this item. Going online at an internet cafe works the same way, using your own document. Internet cafes must check and register the ID card, and must keep the registration and the online records for at least 60 days, which the public security and culture departments can pull at any time. Whoever's document is used to get online is the person on whom whatever happens on that machine during that time is recorded.

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. 全国人大常委会 (2011). 居民身份证法（2011 年修正，第十六、十七条）. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/203777/index.html（北京市公安交通管理局转载）
2. 全国人大 (2020). 刑法（根据刑法修正案（十一）修正，第二百八十条之一）. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html
3. 国务院 (2002). 互联网上网服务营业场所管理条例（国令第 363 号，第二十三条）. http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2002/content_61788.htm

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 9, tip 16. This section describes legal rules, mostly mainland China’s. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, talk to a lawyer. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer