This will clean up marriage services in the city and prevent those from being swindled by such agencies, said an official with the municipal administration for industry and commerce in this south China city.

The administration has also cooperated with the civil affairs bureau in publishing a circular that states marriage agencies must be registered. The circular also stipulates that marriage agencies should not mislead or cheat their clients, or provide matchmaking service that involve foreign nationals, people of Chinese origin in foreign countries, and compatriots from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao on the one side and people in China's interior on the other.

In Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, there are more than 100 marriage agencies. Only some forty of these have permits.

An official with Guangzhou Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau said that in the campaign, authorities will issue a new list of marriage agencies, close down agencies that are not registered and implement detailed rules and regulations for such agencies.

(People's Daily)