The cat-and-mouse game between "Chengguan" and unlicensed peddlers has been on in cities: "Cats" crack down "mice" by confiscating their wares and "mice" pour back with new wares when "cats" are not in sight.

But now here comes the seemingly good news for "mice": the newly-passed Property Law will say no to the seizure.

"Chengguan", responsible for city's (municipal's) law-enforcing and comprehensive administration, now is under fire over the executive means of confiscating after the Property Law, which grants equal protection to public and private properties was approved by the National People's Congress last month.

A program on CCTV channel Two broadcast a peddler of Guangzhou who was deprived of her things on two consecutive days. Witness said the woman cried on the street because she found no way to make a living.

Wang Yi, a law professor of Remin University said arbitrary deprivation of peddlers, including unlicensed ones of their wares by any government department or individual is not allowed by current laws.

According to statistics from some scholars, "Chengguan" has 14 functions and more than 300 kinds of power, none of which, however, is endowed by law but transformed from those of industry and commerce administrations and public security bureaus.

Hardly had "Chengguan" been endowed with the "power", they now seems to come across the law banning them from the power.

"The Property Law highlights the infrangibility of private properties, so it goes against the new law to confiscate peddlers' merchandize and dealing wares," said Wang Jianping, a law professor of Sichuan University and member of China Law Society.

CCTV channel Two said the power of "Chengguan" is too much and their seizure cut off the bread for the peddlers. The program suggested scientific administrating means instead of meting out punishment like confistication.

The Guangzhou "Chengguan", however, claimed they exercised their power in accordance to the city's administration regulations, which doesn't interfere with the Property Law.

As a result, some law experts worried that the Property Law may not help to tackle the problem with the power of "Chengguan" because the relation between "power" and "law" has been for long confused. Other experts said the Property Law is not responsible for regulating administrative departments.

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