Officials who continued to flout austerity rules punished

The country’s top anti-graft department has published a stern warning about the illegal use of public money for personal benefits and reiterated its determination to press ahead with the fight against violations of austerity rules.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection earlier this week listed five incidents of senior officials who ignored the eight-point austerity rules and continued to use public money to pursue luxury lifestyles.

A nationwide campaign against corruption and the “eight-point rules”, usually referred to as austerity rules, were introduced on Dec 4, 2012.

The rules aim to reduce bureaucracy, extravagance and undesirable work practices of Party members.

With clauses focusing on various forms of corruption, such as banquets at public expense, unnecessary travel and meetings, and unauthorized use of government cars, the rules have played a significant role in the anti-corruption campaign.

Among the five senior government officials who violated the Party’s request for austerity, Lu Ziyue, former mayor of Ningbo, Zhejiang province, used public vehicles to bring a hairdresser from Jinhua— a city 500 kilometers from Ningbo — to his place for haircuts since August 2014.

GuChunli, former deputy governor in Jilin province, lived in a hotel in Changchun, capital of the province, from January 2014 to July 2015, spending 343,800 yuan ($51,600) in public money. He was said to have attended three banquets for business people from October 2013 to July 2015.

An official with the CCDI, who asked not to be identified, said that the five officials have been removed from their posts or expelled from the Party.

The CCDI said it will dig into any case that involves violation of the rules and make public each of the violations, no matter who the high-ranking officials are.

More than 20 officials at or above vice-minister level have been disciplined for such violations since the beginning of this year, according to public information on the CCDI website.