Officials' benefits under scrutiny
China’s anti-corruption watchdog is planning to draft standards for officials’ benefits, with different packages based on their different levels.
The standards, covering offices, houses, cars, receptions, holidays, secretaries and security guards, aim to ensure that officials enjoy benefits which match their levels, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said yesterday.
Only a limited number of people at certain levels are allowed official cars, full-time secretaries and bodyguards, the commission said.
It said officials’ benefits may be improved along with China’s overall social and economic development, but enhancement should be strictly limited within a certain scope.
For retired officials, the standards will also define the welfare they can continue to enjoy after their terms in office.
Officials must adhere to the standards and are not allowed to arrange over-standard cars, homes or furnishings, or extra staff, the anti-corruption body warned. They are also prohibited from misusing military vehicles and police car plates, or using public cars for personal convenience.
In addition, the commission said, China will try to establish a residence system under which the government will arrange a house for a senior official and his or her family members, but take it back and allocate it to another official if the original occupant leaves office. This is common international practice, the watchdog noted.
The commission vowed to reinforce supervision and inspection of officials’ ownership of houses, cars and other benefits and to punish those who violate the standards.
Violation of regulations
In November, it said that a total of 16,699 people had been punished for violating frugality guidelines by the end of the previous month.
Most were violations of regulations concerning the ban on government building projects, excessive spending on receptions, use of government cars for private purposes, unnecessary trips in China and abroad using public money, as well as excessively large wedding banquets.
Other cases included giving and receiving gifts during holidays, using public money for luxury consumption, and indolent work styles, it said.
In September, Wang Lusheng, a county-level police chief in Yunnan Province was removed from his post for driving his child to school in a police car.
In March, the Xianyang Intermediate People’s Court in Shaanxi Province was revealed to have bought two Audi cars, each valued at 400,000 yuan (US$65.657) at least, for the court director Fan Yun and Fan’s deputy Chen Liping. Under local rules, an official vehicle should cost no more than 250,000 yuan.
In April, Zhang Aihua, the Party secretary of Binjiang Industrial Zone in Taizhou City of Jiangsu Province, was fired after he and at least 30 officials were caught having expensive dishes and liquor at a reception center. There were four tables piled with expensive cigarettes, premium liquor, and rare dishes.
The scene was filmed on a mobile phone and posted on the Internet where it went viral.
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