Guidelines on the roles of lawyers working on mainland property deals should be tightened, the Solicitors Concern Group said. Current practices make it difficult to tell if they work for property developers or buyers. Group member Thomas Tse Lin-chung said responsibilities should be spelled out clearly as soon as possible or problems would continue. Mr Tse said the bulk of recent complaints about mainland properties deals highlighted the need to update guidelines. About 1,500 buyers of mainland housing flats petitioned the Government and Xinhua (the New China News Agency) last Sunday complaining that developers had failed to build them or had used sub-substandard materials. The Law Society revealed it has received 31 complaints about mainland property transactions in China since last year. The society's council yesterday agreed the need for clearer guidelines.
