China will promote nationwide a new government hotline to deal with rising complaints in the housing industry, a senior official from the Ministry of Construction (MOC) said in Beijing Tuesday.

Cheng Zhenhua, dean of the ministry's Ethical and Cultural Progress Office told Xinhua that the new hotline, "12319" will be a nationwide public service hotline following the customer hotline"12315", and government complaint hotline "12345".

The new hotline will help people to deal with disputes and problems in the housing industry, including water supply problems,gas supply, heat supply, urban environment, public transport, urban gardening, urban planning, real estate, and property management, said Cheng.

The first experimental city to open the "12319" hotline is Shenyang, one of China's industrial bases, also capital city of east China's Liaoning Province. The hotline began operation in Shenyang on September 17, 2002.

Qin Wenjun, director of the Shenyang Urban and Rural Construction Commission, said that in the past 13 months of trial operation, about 88,081 calls have been received through the hotline, with 98.6 percent calls dealt with satisfactorily.

Zhao Baoquan, an 80-year-old Shenyang retiree, told Xinhua thatthe hotline helped him rebuild his shabby sun porch.

Zhao's sun porch cracked this September, but he and his sick wife found no way to have the porch repaired. Zhao called the "12319" hotline on Sept. 22, and to his surprise, the Shenyang Urban and Rural Construction Commission immediately visited his house and had the porch repaired two days later.

"The hotline offers a platform for people to raise their complaints about their daily life, and set ways for them to make suggestions to the government," said Qin.

China is witnessing fast urban construction, with most cities resembling big construction sites due to the increasing urban development, which is bound to provoke disputes and complaints.

Information from the MOC shows that in the first half of this year, the MOC has handled 3,114 letters and visits, most of which concerned problems with pulling down old houses and resettling theinhabitants, real estate marketing, property management and house quality.

Cheng said the MOC will summarize Shenyang's experience runningthe hotline and promote the hotline nationwide this year. The "12319" hotline will not only undertake to solve difficulties for the people, but also collect people's suggestion and advice for the government, Cheng said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2003)