Bodyguard firm dreams of expanding overseas service
By Zhou Liming (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-04 00:26

Hu Xiangyun has a dream that he insists is a firm business plan.

After learning of the tragedy of 11 Chinese workers killed in Afghanistan last summer, the businessman in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province, suddenly realised he could make money out of protecting Chinese on overseas assignments.

"Before that, I thought protecting the home-grown rich was the only market for the business," he was quoted as saying by Xinwen Chenbao newspaper.

Hu claimed his was the first firm to successfully register as "a private bodyguard company" in China.

But actually the current name on his business permit is "Ningbo Ping'an Business Functions Firm."

Armed with positive feedback from the 14th Railway Bureau, which dispatched workers to Afghanistan, Hu immediately hit the legal barrier surrounding gun control.

The Firearms Regulation stipulates that the State forbids any individual or organization to illegally bear, manufacture, trade, transport, lend or lease any firearms, and taking them abroad would be out of the question, he was told.

A glimmer of hope came in the form of a fax, sent from a US-based security firm. They could lease firearms and bullet-proof vests to Hu's men once they got to Afghanistan. There, the transaction must be approved by the Chinese authorities first, the US firm insisted.

The firm claimed to be properly registered in both the US and UK, and had "strong connections with US forces in Afghanistan".

But it had not tried to register in China because of legal restraints.

Not knowing whether this arrangement was legal under the Chinese law, Hu started recruiting.

All candidates must have anti-terrorist training and be able to handle all kinds of light weapons.

Hu offered 5,000 yuan (US$604) as a monthly salary and recruited 23 men.

"I was a reconnaissance guy 20 years ago when I was in the army," said the 41-year-old, whose first idea of business was driving a van for a bank.

Before he could clear all the hurdles in the way of exporting his service, Hu had to make do with the domestic market.

Since its opening, Hu's firm has completed about a dozen transactions. He divides his service into three categories, based on duration: the short term is 1-15 days, with 1,000 yuan (US$121) in daily charges; the medium term is up to 120 days with a daily price tag of 800 yuan (US$97), and the long term is often an annual lease with a monthly charge of 15,000 yuan (US$1,813).

"I've bought half a million yuan (US$60,459) insurance for each man," he said. "They are not armed with even a stick. All they've got is their fists."

"I have my guards study law and etiquette. They're not out to pick a fight, but to defend when required," he added.

An official at the Ningbo Business Bureau said: "This firm is operating in a grey area. It may have exceeded its stated business limits."

Hu's business licence lists its operation scope as business meetings, language translation, corporate celebrations, domestic service and domestic labour service.

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