Officials sacked for violating bureaucracy rules

BEIJING - The discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday named six local officials and institutions that have violated the eight bureaucracy-busting guidelines announced by the central authorities late last year.

Officials involved in the cases have been stripped of their Party or administrative posts, according to a statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC.

The CCDI said in the statement it will severely punish officials whose conduct has violated the guidelines.

Since the election of the new CPC leadership at a Party congress held in November, the CPC has launched high-profile campaigns to stamp out bureaucracy, formalism and the lavish spending of public funds.

The "eight-point" bureaucracy and formalism-fighting guidelines were introduced by a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in December. They urge CPC officials to reduce pomp, ceremony and bureaucratic visits and meetings.

CPC officials will be held accountable and forced to return what they have unlawfully taken if they breach the guidelines, the CCDI statement noted.

The discipline watchdog warned that officials should refrain from taking a "wait-and-see" attitude in implementing the guidelines and set examples for others to follow.

It promised to "earnestly" work to ensure the implementation of the guidelines and promote the building of a long-term mechanism to improve their implementation.

In one of the cases made public Tuesday, the director of the finance bureau of Qiongzhong County in south China's Hainan Province has been removed from CPC and official posts for using public funds to pay for private feasts, according to the CCDI.

The official has been ordered to hand in money to cover the reception costs.

In another case, Zhuhai Financial Investment Holdings Co., Ltd, based in south China's Guangdong Province, arranged lavish feasts during a seminar. The company's general manager has been fired and issued a disciplinary warning, according to the statement.

Everyone who attended the event has been asked to repay the amount in excess of the standard set for public funds that can be spent on such banquets and feasts.