Govt reception fees halved amid frugality campaign

BEIJING - Reception expenses at Chinese central government organs were cut by about 50 percent following a set of anti-bureaucracy and formalism guidelines introduced more than one year ago, according to the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s discipline agency.

Money spent on meetings, official overseas trips, and purchase of official vehicles decreased by about 53 percent, 39 percent and 10 percent respectively, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a report on its website late on Friday.

The drops are the result of a set of "eight-point" guidelines introduced by the CPC leadership in December 2012.

CPC officials were told to reduce pomp, ceremony, bureaucratic visits and meetings.