Chinese officials told to avoid WeChat's red packets as graft busters fear web-based bribes

The central government crackdown on corruption seems to be taking a bite out of the luxury mooncake business, with some delivery companies and bakeries reporting a major drop in activity ahead of next week's Mid-Autumn Festival.

Staff at the Beijing Central Business District office of SF Express, one of the mainland's biggest logistics companies, said their mooncake deliveries were down by half compared with last year.

And at the Drum Tower outlet of Daoxiangcun, one of the oldest traditional pastry makers in the capital, staff said that this year they had cut back on production of their most expensive mooncake gift boxes, which sell for 269 yuan (HK$338).

The drop in deliveries coincides with a warning this week from Huang Shuxian , the deputy head of the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, who said graft-busters were training their sights on prepaid e-gift cards and virtual presents like WeChat's popular "red packets", among other forms of corruption.

The red packet promotion, developed by tech giant Tencent, allows WeChat users to give away virtual money - up to 8,000 yuan to a single contact - that can be cashed through the WeChat application.

According to Tencent, more than five million users have signed up for the service.

"We should carefully detect, discover and investigate gifts that are delivered through logistics companies or given through e-commerce in the form of WeChat red packets and prepaid gift cards," Huang said during a public online chat on the commission's website on Thursday.