Five thousand officials punished for extravagance

The Chinese Ministry of Supervision (MOS) announced that almost 5,000 officials were punished for extravagance in the first half of 2007.

The government meted out disciplinary sanctions against 4,866 officials of the Communist Party of China and the government at various levels, a CRI Nordic report said, for violations of party or government disciplines regarding public funds.

The MOS, the Ministry of Finance, National Audit Office, Government Offices Administration of the State Council, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a joint investigation on officials who had misappropriated public funds on banquets, overseas tours, purchase of luxury cars or entertainment.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) had announced in August that prosecutor Xu Wenai had been relieved of his post as vice procurator-general of east China's Anhui province for wasting public funds after a scandal in Finland.

The investigation showed that the delegation had been refused entry to Finland because they had provided a fake invitation from the Finnish government in November last year. The group had also changed their itinerary, increasing the number of destination countries.

Central authorities have urged government officials to implement China's anti-corruption policies and have called on public servants to practice "a frugal working style" instead of wasting government funds.