The Chinese government is determined to prevent officials from squandering money on banquets, government cars and traveling abroad and the law is the best way to ensure this outcome, says an article in the 21st Century Business Herald (excerpts below).

More than 80 ministry-level departments of the central government have disclosed their budgets for dining, cars and overseas travel this year. Statistically, the overall budget is 7.969 billion yuan ($1.265 billion), decreasing by 126 million yuan from last year.

Some experts estimate that overall expenditure in the area is almost one trillion yuan each year. Local government expenditure is difficult to supervise.

The central government should know it cannot solve the problem with occasional campaigns and supervise the officials with rules, orders and discipline. According to China's constitution, the people's congresses at various levels should serve as a watchdog of the government. However, in practice, the system basically fails in this area. The judicial system does not act until the government and party disciplinary departments take action to investigate the abuse of money and power. But the disciplinary supervisors are not responsive to people's complaints, leaving the government officials almost fearless.

If the government really wants to solve the problem, both people's congresses and judicial organs should be empowered to act independently not only in the name, but also in practice. The government budget must be under close scrutiny of the people's congresses. All government's expenditure should be assessed and watched by taxpayers. This is the basic requirement for all modern governments, regardless of their organizing models.