Thousands of officials punished for lavishness

About 4,000 Party officials in seven provincial regions were punished as of late October for violating Party rules aimed at establishing closer ties with the public, authorities have revealed.

The officials had gone against the mass line campaign through various types of misbehavior including holding lavish banquets and taking overseas trips on public funds.

The punishment included warnings, administrative penalties or dismissal.

The Party's Central Committee launched the campaign in June to improve the relationship between government officials and the public while cleaning up undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.

The Hebei government said it had canceled the license plates of 17,337 government vehicles by the end of October as part of its efforts to implement the mass line campaign.

The provincial government also canceled 118 approval procedures to improve work efficiency and convenience for the people, it said.

The government managed to cut reception expenses by 24 percent compared with the same period last year.

To oversee the implementation of the campaign, the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee have attended meetings in the seven regions.

From Sept 23 to 25, President Xi Jinping joined a Hebei provincial Party leadership session.

Premier Li Keqiang attended a session in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The other five members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee attended meetings in Jiangsu, Gansu, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang and Sichuan provinces.

Jiang Ming'an, a law professor at Peking University, said the mass line campaign is likely to continue for a long period since it's effective in curbing the power of government officials.

The anti-corruption authorities should take stricter measures to punish those who have violated the rules of the campaign, he said.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn