(Ecns.cn)--Except for the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), China's central government departments have all failed to disclose their expenditures on the "three public consumptions" -- officials' overseas trips, vehicle purchases, and receptions--on time, the Beijing Times reported Thursday.
The CAE unveils its expenditures
The CAE publicized its expenditures on officials' overseas trips this year on its official website Wednesday. The department will spend 1.62 million yuan ($240,892) on these trips in 2011, a decrease of 30% from the previous year.
The CAE, followed MOST in answering the State Council's call to unveil such expenditures, but still unveiled the expenditures one week later than required by the State Council, China's cabinet. Moreover, its budget data for expenditures on vehicle purchases and official receptions were absent.
While asked by the Beijing Times why they did not disclose the budgets of these two items, officials of the CAE did not give any specific explanations.
On the list published by CAE on its website, the department also unveiled its overall expenditures for the "three public consumptions" in 2010, making it the first central department to release these numbers.
A total of 4.89 million yuan was spent on these three items by CAE last year, among which 2.39 million yuan were spent on overseas business trips, 1.58 million yuan were used on vehicle purchases and maintenance, and 915,900 yuan were spent on official receptions.
Sources of government corruption
Central government departments' excessive administrative expenses, especially spending on these three items, have long been criticized by the media and the public for being sources of government corruption and waste.
Certain party and government officials purchased luxury cars for their units and used them for personal matters. Also, unnecessary celebrations, seminars, and forums were held using government funds, triggering widespread public concern, said a Xinhua report.
In mid-April, an online posting revealed that the Guangdong branch of Sinopec, a well-known state-owned petroleum refinery enterprise, spent more than 1 million yuan on expensive liquor.
After the scandal, the branch's general manager, Lu Guangyu, was removed from office. An investigation showed that he had purchased dozens of bottles of liquor that cost more than 10,000 yuan each.
