The disciplinary agency said the removal of the trees had “destroyed the natural ecological environment and historical and cultural features of the city, and damaged the people’s beautiful memories and hurt their feelings for the city deeply”.

Observers said the stern disciplinary action sent a strong signal about President Xi Jinping’s priority on protecting the environment, but they cautioned that local officials often faced few checks and balances in their decision-making.

Guangzhou deputy mayor Lin Daoping was fired and received a serious reprimand from the party, according to the announcement. Similar action was taken against the former and serving directors of the city’s forestry and garden bureau, Yang Guoquan and Liu Xianrong.

Also sacked and reprimanded were Jiang Guihong, Yuexiu district’s deputy district head, and Gao Gengen, director of the district’s construction and water affairs bureau.

Luo Jijing, deputy secretary of Guangzhou party committee, was the most senior official held accountable, and he received a warning from the party. Warning letters were also served on a further four officials.

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The scandal coincided with last week’s reshuffle of the Guangzhou leadership, which saw both the local party secretary Zhang Shufu and mayor Wen Guohui replaced by Lin Keqing and Guo Yongheng, respectively. Both are former vice-governors of Guangdong province.

Last week, Guangdong also introduced a policy requiring relevant departments to strictly protect ancient and famous trees, and to seek expert and public opinion about tree protection in future urban projects.

The directive said any violation would face severe punishment and urban greening projects should not be “rushed and profit-oriented, should not be extravagant and wasteful, and exotic tree species must be used prudently”.

The banyan is native to southern China and is widely planted widely in cities like Guangzhou and Fuzhou, because of the shade it provides.

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Indonesian ‘madman’ turns barren hills green by planting 11,000 trees

Indonesian ‘madman’ turns barren hills green by planting 11,000 trees

Guangzhou residents complained on social media that the city’s government had removed many of the old banyans since the end of 2020 and replaced them with poinciana trees.

The destruction was part of an urban upgrade plan issued last November by the Guangzhou Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, which earmarked more than 4,300 mature trees – including over 3,000 banyan trees – for removal.

Among the losses most keenly felt by online residents were the trees felled in the city’s parks, as well as the promenade along Binjiang West Road, a favourite scenic spot for night views of the Pearl River.

“I don’t understand why there is a need to get rid of the trees. What’s wrong with the banyan trees that have kept Guangzhou people company for decades? All my childhood memories are gone,” one resident said on social media platform Weibo.

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Gu Su, a professor of philosophy and law at Nanjing University, said the saga showed the need for better checks and balances, with China’s overly-powerful bureaucracy often failing to take public feeling into account in its decision-making.

“The bureaucracy has a lot of power. In this case, they bulldozed through a major landscaping project with just a policy paper from the government agencies, without conducting much public consultation. It only corrected its action after the public outcry but the damage was done already,” he said.

“To balance the overly-powerful bureaucracy, China needs to give more voices and power to local legislatures made up of local representatives. Currently, the legislature has no role to play, even in major decisions like government budgets and key personnel appointments, not to mention caring for trees.”

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Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said the decision to reprimand 10 officials across various functions for cutting down the trees was “unprecedented”.

It was a clear warning from Xi to local cadres not to make reckless decisions, especially on green projects, he said.

“The loud spanking was to show local cadres that reckless decisions do have consequences, especially those that are against Xi’s priorities such as environmental issues.”