The real estate industry has developed and expanded at amazing speed in the Mainland in recent years. There is a daily growing need for qualified estate agents, which also suggests that estate agency in China is now a career area of considerable potentials for development. Hence there is a corresponding interest among estate agents in Hong Kong to extend their business practice to the Mainland and this article is a brief summary of the licensing and examination arrangements there.

The Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Personnel promulgated two important documents for nation-wide compliance in late 2001. These are the Provisional Regulation regarding the Professional Qualifications of Estate Agents and the Regulation governing the Qualifying Examinations for Estate Agents.

According to the Regulations, all who are engaged in estate agency activities are required to pass the relevant qualifying examination and be duly licensed. The professional licence is granted in two categories, namely, the Estate Agent's Licence (equivalent to the similar licence in Hong Kong) and the Assistant to Estate Agent's Licence (equivalent to the Salesperson's licence in Hong Kong). All who operate or hold key positions in estate agency establishments are required to be the holders of the Estate Agent's Licence.

The qualifying examination for Assistants to Estate Agent has a syllabus devised by the Ministry of Construction and endorsed by the Ministry of Personnel. The setting of the examination papers, and the administration of the tests, are to be undertaken by the provinces, the autonomous regions and the municipalities directly under the Central Government as appropriate. Those who pass the examination will be awarded the Certificate for Practice as an Assistant to Estate Agent in the People's Republic of China but their practice will be confined to the areas where they are located.

The qualifying examination for Estate Agents is organised throughout the country on a centralised basis jointly by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Personnel. The examination paper will be standardised for use throughout the country. It is conducted once per year at major cities of provincially-administered status or above. Those who pass the examination will be awarded the Certificatefor Practice as an Estate Agent in the People's Republic of China which is recognised and enables the holder to practise nation-wide. Those who register for this examination in 2005 or before do not have to fulfil the requirement of having passed the Assistant's examination beforehand.

The syllabus for the Estate Agents qualifying examination consists of four subjects, namely, the basic regulation and government policies on real estate and property transactions, the role and obligations of the estate agent, the practice of estate agency and knowledge relevant to the practice of estate agency. The examination takes place in four half-day sessions with one session of 2.5 hours devoted to each subject. A candidate must be able to pass all four subjects within two years in order to qualify for the certificate.

The first qualifying examination for Estate Agents has been scheduled to take place on 21st and 22nd December 2002. Please watch the EAA Website for further information. At the moment details regarding the examination for Assistants in the province of Guangdong have not been finalised but, for the purpose of practice in the city of Guangzhou, a practitioner is required to have his training assessed in order to obtain the Certificate of Eligibility for Estate Agents in Guangzhou. For enquiries regarding this assessment, please contact Mr Huang of Lingnan College, Zhongshan University at 86-20-84113858 extension 206. For practice in Shenzhen, practitioners are required to attend pre-employment training and take an examination. Those who pass the examination will be issued the Certificate of Eligibility for Estate Agents in Shenzhen. For details, please contact Mr Ye or Miss Zhu at the Real Estate Association of Shenzhen at 86-755-83788965 or 83788971.

An outline of the syllabus of the nation-wide qualifying examination for Estate Agents is now available at the EAA Website and the EAA Resource Centre for Hong Kong practitioners who are interested in launching their careers in the Mainland. There is also a collection of books and other reference materials on the real estate industry in the Mainland and related subjects, and readers are welcome to consult them at the Centre.