A total of 18 Party officials were punished in Benxi after they were accused of extortion while dining in the name of celebrating their children’s admission to college, the Beijing Times reported on Friday.

The Benxi government, in Liaoning province, launched a three-month campaign in June on the so-called dining party, which became a de facto cash-gift extortion scheme used by some Party officials, the paper said.

A hotel manager told the paper the graduation parties were usually more elaborate than wedding parties. But the hotel saw a 70 percent decrease in revenue from this business this year.