The authorities are taking steps to regulate the security service, an increasingly important sector that employs more than 3 million security guards in over 2,500 agencies across the country.

The Ministry of Public Security said in a statement over the weekend that the guards have become an important force in maintaining social stability - the information they contributed to police last year alone helped seize 162,000 suspects.

"But there exist some problems in the service. For instance, many security guards are not well trained," the ministry stated.

The ministry said it is working to include all types of security services in a supervision network and tighten regular monitoring of security companies.

A regulation on security services, being reviewed by the State Council, is also expected to increase supervision.

Currently, the ministry only recognizes security companies run by the police.

A number of security guards, however, are reportedly working for property management offices instead of security companies.

There are also security companies that are not properly registered with the police.

In the past year, the city has seen at least five murders involving security guards.

The latest took place on October 14 at Luyuan community in north Beijing. An 18-year-old security guard killed a female resident of the community while attempting a robbery.

In the five cases, all security guards involved were migrant workers, younger than 20 and without high school education.

"It is difficult for the industry to attract proper talent as the salary is very low compared with other jobs," said Zhang Jingwen, who runs a security company in Beijing.

A guard usually earns no more than 1,000 yuan ($135) a month, even less than a waiter's salary.

The job does not pay well and is unsafe, but also viewed as easy to get. Zhang said the illegal security agencies do not conduct background checks and provide little training.

The ministry stated earlier it plans to open the security service to private operators once the regulation is issued. A licensing system will be imposed on both security companies and guards, the ministry said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2007)