Date: 24 May 2001

Cooperation Arrangement between Hongkong Post and Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority Co., Ltd. on Cross-certification and Development of Chinese Certification Authority System

Hongkong Post today announced the cooperation between Hongkong Post and Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority Center Co., Ltd. for "Cross-certification" and "Chinese Certification Authority System". On 24 and 25 May 2001, Hongkong Post and Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority Co., Ltd. hold signing ceremonies in Shanghai to mark the collaboration. The ceremony on 24 May 2001 was officiated by Mrs. Carrie YAU, Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Mr. FAN Xiping, Director of Informatization Office of Shanghai Municipal People's Government. Mr. P C LUK, Postmaster General and Mr. ZHANG Linde, Vice Chairman of the Board of the Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority Center Co., Ltd. signed the cooperation document. The cooperation between the two parties will focus on exploring the establishment of a reliable and seamless cross-certification system between Hong Kong and Shanghai CAs, and the feasibility of establishing a Chinese Certification Authority System for Hongkong Post. This collaboration signifies Hongkong Post's initiative in promoting closer ties with the certification authorities in the Mainland China.

Mr. P C LUK, Postmaster General, said, "We are delighted to establish cooperation relationship with Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority Center Co., Ltd. On the part of cross-certification, we have established similar cooperation arrangements with ID.Safe of Singapore, DigiCert of Malaysia, ViaCode of United Kingdom and Korea Information Certificate Authority before. To facilitate the use of Chinese language in digital certificates, Hongkong Post and Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority Center Co., Ltd. will also explore the development of a Chinese Certification Authority System for Hongkong Post."

"It is the first cooperation between Hongkong Post and a certification authority in the Mainland China. We will continue to explore opportunities to enlist more reputable certification authorities to promote cross-regional cooperation for the benefit of digital certificate users in these regions.", added Mr. LUK.

According to the cooperation arrangements, Hongkong Post and Shanghai Electronic Certificate Authority Center Co., Ltd. will explore the possibility of establishing a common set of certification policies and practices as well as promoting an open and seamless infrastructure so as to ensure interoperability between the two certification authorities. In respect of the establishment of a Chinese Certification Authority System, it will drive the development of more Chinese-based e-commerce applications, thus strengthening Hong Kong's position as the IT hub for the Chinese communities.

Since January 2000, Hongkong Post has been acting as the first and the only public recognised CA in Hong Kong, maintaining a digital certificate repository to allow the public to verify the validity of the digital certificates issued by Hongkong Post. The digital certificate issued by Hongkong Post, officially known as the e-Cert, allows people to authenticate the identity of the digital certificate holders on the Internet. The CA services provide a secure and trusted e-commerce environment.