In addition to locksmiths' resumes, work histories and related personal data, the files will also include their portraits and fingerprints.

The dossiers will be kept at public security departments in Guangdong Province, one of the country's most crime-ridden provinces, according to the Guangzhou-based Information Times.

Locksmiths will also have to secure professional certification before being allowed to carry out their trade, said sources from Guangdong provincial bureau of public security on Friday.

The move is aimed at curbing the increasing frequency of burglary and related crimes, said police sources.

The public security bureau is working with labor and other officials to draft a new regulation to further standardize the work of locksmiths in Guangdong.

The Guangdong Management Regulation of Lock-Opening Sectors is expected to be submitted to the provincial people's congress for review later this year and come into effect next year.

The regulation obliges all locksmiths to take part in training courses organized by local labor departments before receiving their professional certification.

And people who use such services will also have to abide by new regulations. For example, they will have to show their identity cards and fill in a form for their local neighborhood committees or property management companies before a locksmith will be allowed to open their doors.

The regulation was drafted in response to an increase in the number of burglary cases being reported in major cities in the prosperous province, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, in recent years.

Locksmiths in Guangdong are currently allowed to open any lock after they have been paid. The province is estimated to have more than 130,000 such workers. Most of them are active in the Pearl River Delta region.

A local police officer said the new regulation will help fight crime and reduce the number of burglary cases, though it might inconvenience people.