Greedy officials could delay economic restructuring and government reform

THAT SOME GRASSROOTS CIVIL SERVANTS in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province, embezzled large sums of government money ostensibly to reduce excess capacity shows how far removed the local government is from the rule of law, Beijing Times said on Tuesday.

Some officials of the environmental protection and industrial administration departments asked for millions of yuan in kickbacks from enterprises, which could receive government grants for suspending production to reduce overcapacity.

After pocketing the money, the officials reported to higher authorities that the enterprises had already eliminated their overcapacity. But the factories had not ceased operation.