Shark fin, bird’s nest soup taken off the menu at official dinners
Print Edition
Chinese authorities have banned shark fin and bird’s nest soup from official receptions and told lower level officials they cannot stay in suites on business trips in the latest step in a crackdown on extravagance and waste.
Cigarettes and expensive alcoholic drinks are also banned from official receptions, according to a document issued by the Party’s Central Committee and the State Council.
Such receptions should also not be held in private clubs or upscale venues.
Shark fins, bird nests and products of rare wild animals are popular materials in luxury dinners in China.
The document said officials on business tours should arrange their own meals according to relevant expenditure standards. Local hosts are allowed to provide only one reception dinner if needed, the document said, and they are also banned from giving cash, souvenirs or local products as gifts.
The use of government vehicles and police cars in reception activities should also be kept within a reasonable level, it said.
Public spending on official receptions should be listed as a separate item in authorities’ budgets and relevant information should be made public, the document said.
Officials will also not get welcoming ceremonies at airports or stations, and conferences at tourist attractions will be banned.
There should be no banners or carpets when receiving officials at airports and stations and the number of people accompanying officials should be strictly controlled. Government funds should not be used to cover officials’ personal recreational visits, the document said.
Oversight will be tightened to ensure the rules are followed. Disciplinary and supervisory agencies are told to strengthen supervision over the use of government funds on such activities and officials who violate the rules should be held accountable.
In addition to simplicity and transparency, the document said traditions of relevant ethnic minority groups should also be well respected.
According to the document, the new rules are to promote frugality, oppose extravagance and enhance the anti-corruption drive among Party and governmental authorities.
The new regulation will also be applied to state-owned enterprises, state-owned financial institutions and state-sponsored organizations.
Lin Jiabin, an analyst with the Development Research Center of the State Council, said the new regulation is expected to put a halt to lavish banquets at official receptions.
However, he also urged further improvement to systems for the administration of financial and fiscal expenditure to ensure long-term enforcement of the anti-extravagance drive.
Local authorities tend to offer excessively elaborate receptions for visiting officials, and the root of such problems lies in the loopholes in relevant systems, said Lin Shuanglin, director of the public finance research center at Peking University.
Such practices have caused huge waste and fueled lavish lifestyles among some officials, said Xie Chuntao, a professor with the Party School.
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