SHANGHAI needs to improve information security in an increasingly digitized world by establishing a comprehensive online identification recognition and protection system, a lawmaker said yesterday during the annual session of the Shanghai People's Congress.

"It will be much safer and convenient," said Hu Chuanping, chief of the Third Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, which is responsible for online security.

Transacting business online, Hu said, is increasingly risky "so it is necessary and urgent to set up an e-ID system."