THE CHINESE Communist government’s crackdown on corrupt luxury spending is not stopping with shark fin soup. This week the government has come up with a new rule that prohibits cadres and officials from splashing out on cars, banquets and overseas junkets.
The regulation calls for greater supervision over the use of public funds for receptions, vehicles and overseas trips, also known as “the three public consumptions”, as they have been deemed by the public as a major source of corruption and waste, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The rules will affect all public institutions, including legislative bodies, courts, procuratorates and political parties, and demands a frugal working style from the country’s public officials.
The new rules come at a time of slowing economic growth in China.
China Central Television reported that Chinese officials spent 408.5 billion yuan (€52 billion) on vehicle-related spending, 200 billion yuan (€25.5 billion) on meals, and another 300 billion yuan (€38 billion) on going abroad, and this was in 2004.
As part of a broader crackdown on public sector graft, which is often cited as a major source of public unhappiness about single-party rule in China, the state council in March 2011 ordered 98 ministries and ministry-level government organs to publicise their budgets and expenditures on the three items.
Many provincial governments also voluntarily disclosed their data, but there were complaints that the data were too vague.
The Communist Party is due to start a leadership transition later this year, and Premier Wen Jiabao warned in March that corruption could endanger the party’s survival. There have been a series of scandals and embarrassments for the Communist Party relating to luxury items.
The son of purged former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai reportedly lived a playboy lifestyle in Harvard with fast cars and expensive apartments, while other “princelings”, as the children of top cadres are known, race around the streets of the cities in Ferraris and Lamborghinis, angering the populace.
Last month, the government in Wenzhou announced it was selling 1,400 government cars to cut costs and increase transparency.
