Frugality campaign dents officials' dinner parties

A campaign to fight bureaucracy and extravagance since late 2012 has cut as much as one-third of the feasts Chinese officials attend, according to a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) official.

Zhang Zhongliang was quoted by Southern Metropolis Daily on Thursday as saying that county-level officials now attend 12 feasts on a weekly basis, a sharp decrease from more than 18 before the campaign.

Officials at higher levels are showing similar trends, Zhang said, adding that officials now spend an average of 30 minutes more at home than in the past.

Zhang, citing his own experience, said the "eight-point" anti-bureaucracy and formalism rule has greatly changed officials' work styles with less time spent on paperwork and meetings and more on implementation.

Zhang also listed several sectors that have been impacted by the austerity drive, including catering services, whose annual growth fell from 8.8 percent in 2012 to 3.8 percent in 2013. The hotel industry, beverage, tobacco and entertainment industries were also heavily affected, said Zhang.

"We would rather achieve less economic growth than have problems like corruption and waste," he said.