Public reception budgets loosely monitored: official

BEIJING - Rules regarding the formation of budgets for official government receptions are loosely enforced, according to a senior official in charge of the central government's administrative affairs.

Li Baorong, deputy head of the Government Offices Administration of the State Council, said at a Tuesday press conference that explicit government bans on the use of public funds to purchase luxury items or services have not been strictly enforced.

Li reiterated the government's ongoing pursuit of a more frugal working style and pledged to introduced more social supervision, as well as internal monitoring efforts, to improve the implementation of the existing rules.

"We will gradually solve the problem in that way," said Li.

Last Monday, the central government created a new regulation designed to reduce administrative costs for government and public institutions.

The regulation explicitly prohibits government agencies from purchasing luxury items, goods or commodities above certain standards, as well as directs government agencies to simplify protocols for public receptions.

It sets disciplinary penalties for officials who fail to follow the new "frugal" rules, with the possibility of being dismissed from one's post for significant offenses.

The public has voiced strong concerns over the effectiveness of the regulation's provisions.

Government agencies and their affiliated public institutions at the central level spent nearly 1.5 billion yuan (231 million US dollars) on official receptions in 2011, according to an annual financial report.

The Chinese public believes that the lack of transparency in the use of public funds for receptions, vehicles and overseas trips, also known as "the three public consumptions," are a major source of corruption and waste.