LOST-AND-FOUND service centers were set up in 28 residential communities in Shenzhen on Tuesday (July 18).

Of the centers, 24 are in Luohu District, with one each in Bao'an and Futian, and two in Yantian. They provide information on lost and found goods free of charge.

Yan Zheng with the city's first lost-and-found Web site, the initiator of the program, said the site plans to set up 100 service centers in the whole city.

The Web site has witnessed a flood of lost-and-found information about various articles since it was launched March 5, including documents, papers, umbrellas, wallets and jewelry.

But the Web site so far did not have a place where the found items could be stored.

A survey by the Web site this May found that the majority of the 3,000 netizens polled had no idea as to where to turn in the items they had found.

Some 1 million items are lost each year in Shenzhen, Yan said.

Apart from the lost-and-found service centers, people can report lost property to 950014343 or 160, use the Web site www.sjbm.cn, or send e-mails to sjbm@sjbm.cn.

The country's first company offering paid lost-and-found services was registered in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, in July 2003.

It was followed by more companies in several other cities, including Shanghai and Shijiazhuang.

Heated disputes about the paid service followed.

The maximum charge for clients is restricted to 20 percent of the actual value of lost articles. For locating certificates, the service fee is charged according to negotiations. For example, an ID card finder would normally get a 30-yuan (US$3.7) reward while the company charged 20 yuan. However, it costs only 70 yuan to get a new ID card through official procedures.

Editor: Wing