Bird, one of China's leading mobile phone manufacturers, has developed the country's first cell phone that can be activated by the user's fingerprint, reports Xinhua.

The Ningbo-based mobile maker listed by IC Insights among the world's top 10 mobile producers in 2004 bought the technology from a research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' (CAS) Institute of Automation.

CAS academician Dai Ruwei said fingerprint verification is the safest and most convenient technology in biological verification. With a soft thumb touch on the mobile's screen, the user can activate the mobile's main menu.

"The finger-pass mobiles could be widely used for e-banking, e-commerce and other new forms of Internet-based transactions," he said.

Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), who was among the national appraisal expert team, said the mobile could compete with other advanced products from global brands.

Jin Guangtao, deputy general manager of Bird, said the new technology would cost only 50 yuan ($6).

The company will begin equipping most of its high-end products, branded Doeasy, with the technology this year.