Authorities in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, said that they will not require places to change their name, but will only act to "rectify improper promotional names," in response to heated discussion over a national campaign against improper place names.    

An alleged list of 62 non-standard place names in Shenzhen targeted for change went viral on Chinese social media recently, which brought to public attention the problem of abuse of foreign elements and exaggeration in place names in the country. 

It also caused discussion over whether the name changes would bring about trouble for residents of these addresses, which would be listed on all sorts of official documents.  

In response, Shenzhen's natural resources and planning bureau told the Xinhua News Agency on Saturday that the list is only targeted at improper names for properties and roads in the pre-sale stage, and that it would not require people to change their names on documents like their property certificate or identity card.

The announcement came after the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday asked local authorities to act prudently and appropriately in a campaign against improper place names as the rude implementation by some local governments has caused controversy.

The Shenzhen planning bureau pointed out that many of the places are on the list because the names they actually used to advertise are different from those registered with the authorities. 

For example, a project whose registered name was Yitian Holiday Mansion was finally called Yitian Milan Residence, which was listed for including unrelated foreign elements. 

It is common practice for real estate developers who hope that exaggerated and foreign names will help attract clients, Zhang Dawei, a Beijing-based analyst at Centaline Property, told the Global Times.