What's trending?

Lianjia, a well-known real estate brokerage company in Beijing, announced that its agents will be banned from making spam calls to clients to promote sales.

What's the story?

Across China people complain about being pestered by spam calls from real-estate companies and agents, as well as other types of institutions like insurance companies. But one company in Beijing is trying to take advantage of the calls’ unpopularity by advertising the fact they have banned their employees from making them. On Oct 27, Beijing Lianjia announced that any time a customer receives a spam call from one of its agents, they should report it to the company and will receive 100 yuan for their trouble.

In 2016 Lianjia made a similar commitment but people had to go onto its website beforehand and register that they did not want to receive spam calls.

What are people saying online?

Many people have applauded the company’s new pledge, hoping that others will follow suit. However, others say it should not be up to the individual to make a claim. “The best solution is to legislate to protect personal privacy. I have been harassed by tutoring firms on the phone for more than a year, and I have tried various methods to report them, all useless,” read one comment.

Some people see it as merely a reflection that advertising money has moved online. “This is simply the springboard for all kinds of online promotions... If agents can't make calls, they will turn to online promotions,” another popular comment read.

Editor: Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)