China to rein in extravagant investment teams sent to Hong Kong, Macau
The Ministry of Commerce made the pledge following a highly critical article about such trips in People's Daily.
The Ministry of Commerce has pledged to rein in extravagance by local government delegations sent to Hong Kong and Macau to drum up investment, following a highly critical article about such trips in People's Daily.
Yao Jian, a ministry spokesman, told a press conference that Beijing was aware of the overblown nature of business delegations visiting Hong Kong and Macau, pointing out that some local governments had overstated the number of participants and the value of deals signed during their promotional activities.
They were desperate to get a big number of foreign businesspeople attending the events and re-signed agreements which had previously been sealed to shore up the total transaction value
"They were desperate to get a big number of foreign businesspeople attending the events and re-signed agreements which had previously been sealed to shore up the total transaction value," Yao said, according to a statement on the ministry's website. "The phenomenon reflects a severe level of artificiality and extravagance."
He added that the ministry would do its utmost to avoid wasting public funds.
His remarks followed the flagship newspaper's harsh criticism on Monday of investment delegations travelling to Hong Kong.
This was the first time that a Communist Party mouthpiece had fired a salvo at such investment-promotion practices.
also said anti-graft officials would investigate and punish those who outrageously wasted money on trips, because their behaviour tainted the government's image.
