Radio tags for China's products, blood and people - RFID is a big opportunity in China.

The Chinese have been at the helm of the electronic and semi-conductor revolution. They may also be at the top of the radio frequency identification (RFID) revolution, thanks to the 2008 Summer Olympics and Wal-Mart.The Chinese government has plans of showcasing the Chinese achievements to the world through the Olympics in 2008China has become the factory to the world. Its manufacturers supply directly to Wal-Mart and other such retailers.They also supply to the suppliers of Wal-Mart and others, which buttons up roughly 50% of all products being sold by the mega-retailers worldwide. Naturally, given the depth of China's involvement in global manufacture, the retailer's directions to its suppliers in the US on RFID tags will have a major impact on China in course of time. "The Chinese are not unfamiliar with RFID technology.Within the retail trade environment, RFID tags are expected to replace the bar code. This is the code displayed on the sides of product packages. It contains the price and product identification number, which a shopkeeper is able to read by running a scanner or reader up and down the bar code. The bar code facilitates transactions, rules out human error, and allows the shopkeeper to know exactly what quantum of a product he or she has sold at what price.the Chinese government is alert to the possibility that it is a matter of time before its suppliers will be forced to tag their supplies with RFID tags, and have started to prepare for this eventuality. The utility of RFID technology in the retail sector apart, the Chinese government is also expanding RFID use domestically. It has already announced its national ID card program, which is estimated to consume about a billion RFID-enabled cards. The country also has plans of introducing RFID-enabled chips to track blood bags to deal with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis. These are the bags that contain the blood donated by people for use by others. Since the Chinese consume 47 million bags of donated blood annually, this could be a source of another RFID tag consumption.RFID is not a technology or product. It is a revolution."