A police division in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, opened an online store to offer a range of services, including reuniting owners with lost property.

Lianxin Xiaozhan?- literally “Heart Connection Station”?- is run on Taobao, a major e-commerce website, by 53 officers in the city's Yuhuatai district.

“The Internet is essential nowadays, and police should communicate online, too,” police officer Li Zhiyi said.

The services include lost and found, security advice, missing persons, applications for good Samaritan awards and disability certificates.

According to user comments, the store reunited a college student named Tao with a backpack he lost in Nanjing a year ago.

After a quick online verification, the store agreed to post the property to his home for 0.01 yuan, less than 1 US cent.

Taobao regulates every transaction on the website, so the district police store charges each “customer” 0.01 yuan. Li said the money is donated to charity.

Between November, when the store opened, and Dec 1, six people “purchased” services. All gave favorable comments.

“If the store gets a negative comment, one of the operators will contact the buyer immediately,” Li said. “When we figure out the reason for the negative comment, the officer responsible will be punished.”

Of the 53 operators, three officers are responsible for answering online enquiries, while the others process orders along with their regular duties.

The store has faced a few hiccups, however. It was temporarily suspended after posting pictures of lost ID cards for owners to claim.

According to the company's terms of service, Taobao does not allow vendors to list ID cards as goods, to prevent criminal activity.

Their store was closed for a week and several transactions were withdrawn.