Confiscated goods 'given to the poor'

Ever wondered what officials do with the stuff they confiscate from illegal street vendors? Authorities in Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan, yesterday cleared certain "misconceptions".

"Confiscated goods are donated to low-income families and charities. We don't take them home," Huang Wei, the head administrator of the city management supervision department of Changsha's Furong district, told China Daily yesterday.

"A majority of goods we seized from the streets are agricultural products, like apples and oranges, which cannot be kept for too long," Huang said.