Corruption as food for thought

The People's Daily on Monday reported a decision of the Party School of the Hubei provincial committee prohibiting its students from using public money to treat each other to feasts.

The students are all leading officials from different government departments or State-owned enter-prises in the province. The media report said the several-month-long course at the Party School provided an opportunity for the officials to become friends and exchange information. "Many of them," the report wrote, "have the right to sign bills. So some of them hosted banquets to treat each other using public money."

The Party School's decision also prohibits students from "playing gambling games, receiving precious gifts or keeping their government-allocated sedans in the campus."