Thrift to a tee

The government's frugality campaign to curb excess is striking exorbitantly priced clubs. Golf associations and their ilk are discovering a lack of card-carrying officials is par for the course, pushing them to swing toward the middle class, An Baijie and Cao Yin report.

'Queen of tea' losing crown amid frugality drive

China to levy more taxes on luxuries

Golf-club manager Li Yong said his business has been affected by authorities' frugality campaign. The 33-year-old, who owns a golf course in suburban Beijing's Changping district, said the number of golf players has dropped since early last year, after the Communist Party of China initiated a campaign to curb excessive spending.

In December 2012, the CPC Central Committee put forward an eight-point guideline to require government officials to get closer to the people through cleaning up undesirable work styles, including extravagancy, formalism and bureaucracy.

"The guideline's release has affected the golf market," Li told China Daily.

Many people regard golf membership cards as status symbols. They cost up to 1 million yuan ($161,400) at some Beijing clubs.

The campaign has made the cards hot potatoes for officials since the campaign began.

In June last year, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-graft agency, required all disciplinary officials to return all kinds of membership cards to prevent bribery.

The ban has brought a boom for the secondhand golf membership card market. Most memberships are non-refundable and can only be transferred to others, Li said.

Secondhand cards' prices dropped last year, since there were then more sellers than buyers, he added.

The cards provide better services for lower prices.

Many Beijing clubs' websites put the weekend price at more than 1,200 yuan for non-members but less than 200 yuan for members.

Guo Xiaobing, a worker at Beijing Links Golf Club near the North Fourth Ring Road, also said the anti-graft push has hit his club.

"Our business volume is influenced," Guo said.

The campaign has also affected other luxury entertainment sectors, such as horse breeding.

A businessman surnamed Liu, who has run Beijing Shengqishi Mayouhui (Saint Knight) club for 10 years, said horse sales have dropped.

"I heard some people bought horses at about 1 million yuan for officials as gifts," said Liu, who refused to give his full name.

"But it has been rare to hear this since last year."

Officials punished

Ministry of Transport planning department head Sun Guoqing was caught using public funds to play golf and for personal travel, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a statement last December.

The official received a serious warning as punishment, the statement said.

Golf magazine editor Fan Kai said many businesspeople are turning to golf as a popular way to socialize with officials as they seek alternatives to extravagant banquets and nightclubs.

"A golf membership card is just like many forms of property, such as apartments and cars, which can be presented to officials as bribes," he said.

Fan added that many of the golf clubs' clients are State-owned enterprises.

Many officials enjoy playing golf with businesspeople because the sport provides a quiet and private environment, Fan said.

Golf course employees told Xinhua News Agency they often see government officials spending hours swinging golf clubs and chatting with businesspeople despite never paying a dime for their games. Some believe corrupt deals are scored on the green.

In August 2010, more than 20 government officials in Wenzhou city of East China's Zhejiang province were required to quit a golf association after their involvement in the expensive sports club aroused controversy.

The city government ordered a thorough probe after an online post revealed local officials had golf association positions, including as chairperson and honorary chairperson.

While no evidence of wrongdoing was found, netizens speculated about how the officials could afford golf - a luxury for most Chinese.

Golf club membership fees run up to more than 100,000 yuan in Wenzhou. Civil servants' average salaries are far from enough to be able to afford such an extravagant pastime, Xinhua reported.

Chinese Academy of Governance public administration professor Zhu Lijia said officials who accept golf memberships violate clean-governance rules.

"If officials accept membership cards, they will be more likely to abuse their power to seek gains for the businesspeople who provide them," he said.