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Detectives close in on licenses

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-22 11:39

GUANGZHOU: Private detective firms may not have pried open the door to legally offering their services in China, but they've slipped their business card into the deadbolt.

A company in this southern city was given a trademark earlier this month, allowing it to operate as Guangzhou Jiutouniao Survey Firm.

The firm currently offers 45 services ranging from business surveys, collecting evidence of counterfeit products, intellectual property rights investigation and investigation of enterprises and individuals.

"The trademark doesn't mean we are allowed to conduct private detective services, but it at least indicates some progress has been made in paving the way for us to officially carry out such services," Li Guang, the firm's director, told China Daily.

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The Ministry of Public Security doesn't allow private detective services. However, as many as 200 firms in Guangzhou are now engaged in offering such services under the name of providing consultation, Li said.

Other companies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, have also been granted trademarks for their companies.

"But it doesn't mean the government has lifted the embargo on the private detective sector," said Chen Heping, an official with the Guangzhou industrial and commercial bureau.

So far, no companies have been licensed by industrial and commercial authorities to officially launch such businesses in the country.

"They are all registered as market survey or consultation service companies," he said.

Jiutouniao has more than 50 employees, most of whom are retired soldiers.

"Private investigation exists in Western countries and regions. Now the business in China's big cities like Beijing and Guangzhou is also becoming popular," Li said.

In those big cities, social and family issues like marriage disputes occur often, Li said.

"Sometimes, public security and courts can not settle such issues. People are coming to us for help to seek the truth behind the issues," Li said.

As a result, he has called on the government to lift the ban on private detectives.

"The private investigations we do are to find out the truth, not to harm individuals and society," Li said.