Opinion | People's Daily slams Chinese local governments over luxury buildings

The Communist Party's flagship newspaper on Monday published a scathing rebuke against local governments wasting public funds on luxurious office buildings, despite its own construction of a 150m-tall tower in Beijing.

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The administration office building for the Xisha, Nansha, Zhongsha islands on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea. Photo: AP

Published: 12:32pm, 13 May 2013Updated: 4:13am, 29 Aug 2013

The Communist Party's flagship newspaper on Monday published a scathing rebuke against local governments wasting public funds on luxurious office buildings, despite its own construction of a 150m-tall tower in Beijing.

"County government offices are built like the American White House, city squares are larger than Tiananmen Square, the interiors of government guesthouses are sumptuously decorated," an article said in People's Daily.

"Luxury buildings are built to satisfy the pompous selfish desires of certain people, but they have hurt the feelings of the common people," it said.

The articles comes amid an austerity campaign launched by party General Secretary Xi Jinping in a much-publicised speech to party leaders in December.

He outlined guidelines that aim to end special traffic arrangements for officials, lavish banquets, lengthy meetings, flower arrangements and unnecessary travel that have cut growth in China's luxury industry.

Last September, a mayor of Minggang town in Henan province was exposed as having a 200 square metre office with a private elevator in a new government office, which cost 30 million yuan (HK$373 million) to build. National regulations allow for a nine square metre office for officials of his rank.

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