An English-speaking patrol police team will hit the street in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province on June 20.

The team would offers services to English-speaking foreigners who ask the way, seek other help or report cases to police departments in Chengdu, said Zhong Jingqi, an officer of the Jinjiang Sub-Bureau of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The English-speaking patrol team is composed of 22 policemen aged from 22 to 24. They have received intensive English training.

With rapid economic growth, the number of foreigners working and living in Chengdu was on the rise, and flows of foreign nationals were often seen in its downtown areas, Zhong said.

Zhong recalled an incident to underline the necessity of the English-speaking patrol team.

In an unexpected occurrence last August, Kang Peng, a policeman, came across with a Netherlander who was anxious to make a long-distance phone call home to inquire of the situation with his brother-in-law hospitalized for heart strike.

The telecom office asked him to pay a little amount of money as deposit as required before he made the phone call. Kang felt it hard to enable him to understand as he could only speak little English. And it took a long time before they got through by signs.

(Shenzhen Daily June 7, 2004)