Budget for National Games in Liaoning cut by 78pc
Spending limit set at 800m yuan, with scale of event reduced and big savings targeted
Sporting powerhouse China has slashed the budget for its National Games by 78 per cent amid dramatically slowing economic growth and a government campaign to rein in public spending.
Spending on the 12th games, to be held on August 31 to September 12 in the northeastern province of Liaoning, will be kept to a maximum of 800 million yuan (HK$1.01 billion), the deputy director of the organising committee, He Min, was quoted as saying by state media on Thursday. That’s down from the original figure of 3.6 billion yuan ($4.55 billion).
“We hope to create a new manner of organising big events in a thrifty way,” He was quoted as saying at a news conference on Wednesday.
We hope to create a new manner of organising big events in a thrifty way
Held every four years, the National Games are China’s premier sporting event and a crucial testing ground for future Olympic champions. With events broadcast nationwide and national leaders in attendance, host cities usually compete to outspend each other on elaborate ceremonies and glitzy venues.
Liaoning’s decision to brag about its cost-cutting, therefore, represents a sharp shift in tone among officialdom, reflecting stark new economic realities.
The ruling Communist Party’s economic growth target this year is 7.5 per cent, down by almost half from 2007’s sizzling pace of 14.2 per cent. Some analysts have suggested growth might sink below 7 per cent in coming months – perilously low by Chinese standards.
Meanwhile, debts among local governments are soaring, while China’s politically sensitive global trade surplus contracted by 12.4 per cent in June compared with a year earlier to US$27.1 billion. Growth in exports to the United States, China’s biggest foreign market, fell to 1.8 per cent from May’s 3.5 per cent.