Society

Authorities concerned by lavish office buildings

By Zheng Caixiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-31 07:56

GUANGZHOU - The increasing number of lavish office buildings used by township governments in rural areas in South China's Guangdong province has stirred up concerns from the provincial government here.

The office building of Qigong township in Yangshan county. [Provided to China Daily]

Authorities have promised to start an investigation into whether corruption or the misuse of public money has played a part in the construction of the office buildings occupied by township governments across the province.

The Guangdong government will fight harder to eliminate corruption this year, said an unidentified official from the provincial Party discipline inspection authority on Wednesday.

The proposed investigation comes after a number of local government buildings attracted notice and criticism from netizens, who at times compared the structures to "the White House, the Forbidden City and the Great Hall of the People".

In Qigong township, a poverty-stricken place within Yangshan county, a lavish office structure built in the style of the White House was completed in 2006. The "mini White House" covers more than 5,000 square meters of space and cost the township government more than 6 million yuan ($915,000), the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Rural Daily reported.

In Hejiang township in Huazhou city, a group of office buildings occupied by the local government was designed to resemble the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Liu Jianfu, a senior researcher with the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said it's reasonable for local township governments to seek out better office space in good economic times.

The government building of Hejiang township in Huazhou city. [Provided to China Daily]

"But it has gone too far when their lavish offices can compete with White House, the Forbidden City and the Great Hall of the People," Liu told China Daily on Wednesday.

"The offices have actually made officials seem more separated from local residents, who are still struggling to lift themselves out of poverty," said Liu.

He said officials should think more about bringing prosperity to the local economy and trying to solve the problems of the people, instead of competing with their peers in the construction of extravagant office buildings.

Lin Yehan, a primary school teacher who declined to say where he lives, said township governments should not spend extravagant amounts of money on their own office buildings.

"School buildings and other similar places are still very shabby in Guangdong's rural areas," he said.

"If they have money, township governments should give the top priority to improving schools."

And the construction of lavish office buildings might lead to official corruption and other troubles, he said.

In 2004, Zhang Zhongwen, Party chief of Meinan township of Meixian county, was sentenced to three years in prison after he spent more than 3.81 million yuan to build a luxury office building.

Zhang was convicted of accepting 150,000 yuan in bribes from the contractors who worked on the project.