Oops! Publicity video puts city on the map

A PROMOTIONAL VIDEO of tourist spots in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China’s Henan province, was found to have used images of Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden of neighboring Kaifeng city. Xiaoxiang Morning Post comments:

The 6-minute video cost the Zhengzhou tourism bureau 3.48 million yuan ($542,000), according the disclosure on the Chinese government procurement website.

The Zhengzhou tourism bureau said it has already required the production company to review the video and explain how the mistake happened.

However, it should know that people are not really querying how the mistake occurred, but how the 3.48 million yuan was used.

The price of the production of the video is obviously higher than the average level in the industry. But the quality of it, as the error shows, has fallen short of people’s expectations. Before the official issuance of the video, it should have been checked by the bureau for its approval. And if it did give its approval it neglected the error, which even a casual viewer can spot.

The tourism bureau has followed the government procurement procedure in selecting the production company through open tendering. But the procedure does not necessarily justify the result.

Many people would associate the case with the 5-minute publicity video of the former Ministry of Railways, which cost 18.5 million yuan through government procurement procedure and open tendering. The ministry’s then publicity department head was later found guilty of corruption, and was imprisoned for eight years in 2015 for pocketing the bulk of more than 7 million yuan in kickbacks from the producer.

The disciplinary and supervisory authorities are obliged to take action now and investigate whether there is any corruption involved this time.

While the video has made Zhengzhou famous, it is not for the desired reasons.