Central govt departments publish spending details

BEIJING -- Chinese central government departments on Thursday began to publish details on their expenditures in 2011, marking the beginning of a new round of such disclosures for central government departments.

According to the figures released, central government departments spent 9.36 billion yuan ($1.48 billion) on receptions, vehicles and overseas trips, also known as "the three public consumptions", last year, using fiscal funds allocated by the central authorities.

The China Earthquake Administration, which was the first to release such figures, spent nearly 6.4 million yuan on overseas travel, 35.6 million yuan on vehicles and 14 million yuan on official receptions, according to a report on the administration's website.

Combined spending on overseas travel, vehicles and receptions was 56 million yuan, less than the 57.7 million yuan budgeted for the expenses.

The administration discarded 23 vehicles last year and bought 12 new ones at a cost of 2.95 million yuan. The administration's 47 departments kept a total of 1,082 public vehicles, with operating costs totaling 32.68 million yuan.

The administration also paid for 425 overseas trips last year.

According to figures made public the same day, the Ministry of Supervision spent 3.86 million yuan on overseas travel, 3.46 million yuan on vehicles and nearly 2.75 million yuan on official receptions.

The total budget for expenses was 12.54 million yuan for 2011.

In addition, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security also released its figures, putting the total expenses of overseas travel, vehicles and receptions at 19.08 million yuan, accounting for 90.86 percent of the ministry's budget for such expenses.

Apart from offering the overall figures on the expenses, these government agencies also detailed the number of people and destinations of the overseas trips involved in their reports.

Central government departments are scheduled to publish their expenditures for 2011 starting July 19, said a senior official with the Ministry of Finance.

As of 7 pm Thursday, 92 central government departments and public institutions had publicized their expenditures on their websites.

Government expenditures on overseas travel, vehicles and official receptions have garnered public attention in recent years, as many people believe that government departments spend too frivolously on these items.

More than 90 central government departments publicized their 2010 and 2011 spending on overseas travel, receptions and vehicles after an order issued following an executive meeting of the State Council in May last year.

In its latest efforts to curb extravagancy and enhance transparency, the Chinese central government on July 9 this year promulgated a new regulation designed to reduce administrative costs for government and public institutions.

The regulation calls for greater supervision over the use of public funds for receptions, vehicles and overseas trips and requests authorities to integrate spending on these three areas into their budget plans, devise spending plans for the items and publicize their budgets and expenditures on a regular basis.