In 2007 foreign investment will be permitted in China's security
services industry which meets a commitment to the World Trade
Organization (WTO), said a senior official yesterday.
The industry, currently solely funded and operated by public
security departments, will be open to private investors from home
and abroad, said Ma Weiya, deputy director of the public order
regulation department under the Ministry of Public Security.
"The opening is essential to a rapidly growing industry and also
meets our WTO commitment," he said during yesterday's first Beijing
International Security Forum. .
The security service industry includes bodyguards,
transportation protection, residential and office security and
electronic equipment.?
Ma explained that China's first regulation on the security
service industry, likely to be issued in the first half of next
year, would spell out specific requirements for private
investors.?
"In principle foreign investors will be allowed to set up
joint-venture security companies in China," Ma said. "But certain
areas such as armed escort services will remain closed." He said no
country would unconditionally open this specialist field as it was
closely related to state and social security.
Ministry figures show that since the opening of China's first
security service company in 1984 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the country now has
approximately 2,300 companies with 1.3 million staff.
Ma said the regulation would change the existing policy where
only public security departments were allowed to open security
service companies and make it more market-oriented.
"In the initial stages of the industry it was necessary to have
a centralized management authority," he said. "But now it's time to
open the market and turn public security departments from operators
to regulators."
The regulation will spell out specific criteria for grading
security companies and staff. Credit records will also be set up
for those involved.?
Mo Jihong, a researcher with the National Institute of Law under
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the policy change
would be beneficial to ensuring a healthy market. "Without
monopolization the market will become more competitive and
customers are likely to enjoy better services," he said.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2010 Shanghai
Expo are considered as two prime opportunities for the rapidly
expanding industry.
Gao Yu, deputy director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau,
said at the forum that security staff would be an essential
addition to police in protecting the Olympic Games. They'd be
responsible for safeguarding sports venues, maintaining public
order and checking credentials during the event.
A special training program has been launched for 740,000
security staff in Beijing to improve their professional skills and
knowledge before the Games.
(China Daily September 21, 2006)