East China’s Suzhou latest to join ‘tighten belts’ call as Beijing leads austerity drive
- Spending cuts, judicious use of government assets and focus on green energy among new rules rolled out by Suzhou government
The cutbacks include not replacing official cars until they are 10 years old or have done 100,000km (over 62,000 miles), and no government or rental cars for business trips to destinations along the high-speed rail system.
The set of rules, published on the city’s official website last week, also call for government assets to be used in flexible ways, including renting out or auctioning idle land and housing, and sharing the assets between agencies and regions.
All conference rooms and public services facilities should be shared between offices by the year-end, and some car parks and outdoor bathrooms should even be open to the public, according to the directives.
Suggested energy-saving measures include choosing electric vehicles where possible for new or replacement official cars, launching a photovoltaic project, and cutting waste – including in cafeterias.