China tightens frugality campaign for New Year holidays

BEIJING -- China's top discipline inspection agency pledged Tuesday that it would step up efforts against hedonism and extravagance during the upcoming New Year and Spring Festival holidays.

To fully implement frugality rules, discipline inspection departments will focus on public institutions at lower levels, such as state-owned enterprises and financial institutions, as well as county and township governments, said a guideline issued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Inspectors will expose violations that take more subtle forms, the document said, noting that some government departments and state enterprises host expensive dinners at their own canteens to escape supervision.

Another priority is to punish those who use government-owned cars or office space for personal use.

The CCDI also warned officials against taking festival celebrations as an excuse to lobby their superiors for promotions.

The public is encouraged to tip off authorities about officials who violate the rules, the CCDI said.