Premier Zhu Rongji has lashed out at cadres responsible for building projects, calling them parasites who preyed on taxpayers' money like 'Tang's Monk's meat'.
During a two-day Beijing conference on the quality of construction projects, which closed on Tuesday, Mr Zhu told delegates they must ensure taxpayers' money would not be carved up like the meat.
Tang's Monk - real name Xuan Zhuang - was the master of the Monkey King in the classic novel Journey to the West. In the novel, evil spirits believed they could become gods if they could eat the monk's meat.
'If we fail, then we will become sinners of the millennium and bear the bad name for a thousand years,' Xinhua quoted Mr Zhu as saying.
He blamed a recent spate of construction accidents on rampant corruption.
Mr Zhu said: 'The main reason is that serious corruption exists in our construction business, inside out. Everybody takes bribes and bends the law.