No govt green light for lawbreaking

IN A BATCH OF supportive policies recently issued by the financial work office of Hubei provincial government, the office said, apart from various kinds of subsidies and policy support, "golden seed" companies that are preparing to submit applications to be listed will be leniently punished if they are found to deserve administrative punishments for wrongful behavior. Qianjiang Evening comments:

The "special pardon" policy has immediately come under fire from the public. It is justified for the people to question whether the office is empowered to make the "golden seed" enterprises exceptional in this way.

The listed companies, usually model enterprises, must receive public supervision and abide by the law. There is no reason for the provincial government to loosen the supervision over companies that are to be listed, even if they are trying to attract them to Hubei. In fact, such a practice will not offer any benefits to genuinely competitive enterprises.