The rising number of beggars could force a reversal of regulatory reforms
Mainland cities are struggling to cope with the problem of vagrants and beggars who have become a growing eyesore and a source of crime.
Guangzhou is even studying the possibility of restoring some of the police powers removed last year when the central government revoked a regulation allowing officers to repatriate vagrants and beggars at their own discretion.
Zhang Deming, a vice-director of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, told Xinhua yesterday the municipal government was considering a new local regulation that would authorise the administration to set up a monitoring system among its departments to keep track of vagrants and beggars.
He said relevant departments would repatriate those considered likely to break the law.
A new regulation covering vagrants was introduced by the State Council last August, replacing a 1982 rule that gave police powers to detain and repatriate them.
The change in the law was prompted by the death of Hubei graphic designer Sun Zhigang, 27, in Guangzhou last March after he was detained by police.