Debt collection was once filled with threats of violence - but no longer.

It is now seen as requiring wisdom and manners.

"We teach our students the process of debt collection and the laws concerning legal procedure," said an official with China Employment Training Technique Instruction Centre under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Nearly 200 students around the country have completed training courses for professional debt collection conducted jointly by the centre and the Beijing Huicheng Technique Training Centre. One hundred of those have already been awarded a license to work in the industry, six of them from Shanghai.

The official, who preferred to be anonymous,said the right process of debt inquiry was by phone call, by mail, by visiting and then by legal procedures.

"Our class tells people what techniques, manners and laws to apply to persuade a debtor to pay. It is not about threatening the debtors with the law, but educate them to what they might face if they refuse."

He said a debt collector from Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, has increased his success rate significantly since taking the training.

"The student works for a company that collects debt for a local hospital, which often sees patients leave without paying.

"He told us he succeeded in half of the collections before the training and the percentage has risen to 80 per cent now," said the official.

"China is experiencing fast economic development and debts between companies and individuals are seen everywhere."

The country banned the registration of debt collection companies in 2000 because of increasing cases of violence. But companies operating such business still exist.

Statistics show Shanghai has more than 100 debt collection agencies, which collect debts amounting to hundreds of million of yuan every year. A company formed by legal experts in China and the United States to collect debts on behalf of Chinese companies in the United States was launched at the start of this month. According to National Business Daily, many of the collection companies, which charge at least 10 per cent of the debt figure for services, are kept very busy.

Liu Guibin, one of the six professional debt collectors in Shanghai, told National Business Daily that the income of a debt collector is at least 80,000 yuan(US$9,860) per year.

"We launched the training programme in April in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing," Zhao, a woman with Huicheng Technique Training Centre told China Daily Shanghai & Delta.

"We have received lots of applications from as far as Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"Most of them work for law firms, finance or sales management departments of big companies and credit management companies.

"We even see university students, though few in number, who were hoping the certificate could improve their chances in job hunting."