The past few weeks have been frustrating for Meng Guanggang, but it could be for the best.

The foundation conference of the Chinese private detective association, scheduled for June 6 in Shenyang, had to be cancelled at the last minute.

The Civil Affairs Bureau of Shenyang in North China's Liaoning Province announced on the day that the association had not registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and therefore the conference is illegal.

Meng, the event's organizer, had to call off the meeting.

However, Meng, a well-known private investigator (PI) in his 50s, emphasized he would keep on pushing for the legalization of the industry in China.

"This is a trend. It can't be ignored forever. And it's better to legislate for it rather than work against it," Meng added.

PI dilemma

Since the early 1990s, as many as 2,000 PI agencies have sprung up across China, with 50,000 people working as PIs, according to Meng.

In Shanghai alone, there are 30 PI agencies and about 200 investigators, many of whom are former professors, lawyers, professional athletes, soldiers and policemen, according to Shanghai Morning Post.

But the profession has not become a unified industry because most of the businesses are run on a small scale with good and bad practitioners intermingled.

In 1993, the Ministry of Public Security outlawed "private detectives" on the grounds that they trespassed on the powers of investigations being undertaken by specialized organizations such as police.

Yet Meng and his counterparts throughout the country survive, working to "collect data" or as "consultants."

While the legal status of their work is cloudy, so is their image in the eyes of the public, which views them mostly as snoops.

Life or death

"We would never survive if we didn't regulate ourselves," said Meng, who set up an investigation agency in Shenyang in 1992 after retiring as a police officer. Over the last decade, Meng has engaged in several hundred civil cases. He even claimed to have involved in the production of one proof in the case of Liu Yong, the notorious gangster in Shenyang.

At present, there is no administrative department overseeing PI operation. Theoretically, anyone can enter the industry - no certificate proving qualifications is needed, This, according to Meng, is hampering the industry's development.

The other hidden trouble is their business practices

The majority of China's detective jobs involve privacy cases, in which PIs are expected to collect evidence about adulterous spouses.

Bill Thompson, former chief manager of Pinkerton China, the world's leading PI company, told China Daily that PIs should do more to expand their business scope rather than just finding cheating spouses.

Conflict over PIs

Liu Changle, a Shenyang police officer, says he believes PIs have no right to undertake investigations.

Moreover, "they sometime use illegal methods to collect evidence and this makes their existence illegal."

But Lin Haihui, the general secretary of a Shanghai PI association, does not agree.

"Everything exists for a reason. There is great demand for PIs. And if we stopped doing this, overseas companies would move in."

China will open its service sector in 2006 and it would be better to regulate such a new industry rather than cracking down on it, Lin argued.

Insiders say the government's attitude toward PIs is changing.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Public Security launched a survey throughout China's major cities in relation to the development of PI services, a sign widely interpreted as a prelude to the possible legalization of the business.

On April 1, 2002, regulations on proof in civil suits, issued by the Supreme People's Court, came into effect.

The regulations have made breakthroughs in the admissibility of video and audio proof.

They can be used in court as long as their production did not violate a person's legal rights nor were they gained via illegal channels.

According to some industry insiders, the cancellation of the association's meeting may lead to a positive outcome.

"Even though this conference was cancelled, this will force the (central) government to put the issue on its agenda," Lin said.

Of course, the rights of PIs as well as their investigation means must be strictly defined, he added.

China's PI industry has a promising future with the nation's entry into World Trade Organization, said Ponno Kalastree, former president of the Council of International Investigators.

"There are more and more overseas companies entering China to invest with China's opening up," Kalastree said.

"They need feasibility studies, market surveys and insurance verifications. This is a large market."

(China Daily 07/05/2004 page5)