Austerity, anti-bureaucracy campaign retains momentum

Year-end used to be a busy time for Wang, the owner of a liquor and cigarette store in downtown Beijing, but sales have dropped sharply over the past two years.

He has not even sold a single bottle of a famous domestic liquor brand in the last six months, despite him slashing the price by more than 30 percent.

"The wider environment has changed. People are no longer buying liquor as gifts for others," lamented quadragenarian Wang, who now spends most of his "working" day watching movies on a computer in his shop.

Like Wang's store, other liquor shops have seen fewer clients buying liquor, which was once the gift du jour. Wang said some liquor shops in the capital had closed due to rising rents and poor business. His own store now mainly sells cheap liquor and lower-priced products.

The drop in liquor sales has been attributed to the unprecedented efforts of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) since late 2012 to promote austerity and eradicate undesirable work styles, such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.

By the end of September, more than 80,000 people have been punished for violating the "eight-point" anti-bureaucracy and extravagance rule, according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The number of official meetings and the use of public funds for government vehicles, officials' overseas trips and official receptions have dropped remarkably.

In Zhoukou City, Henan Province, three leading officials, who are also brothers, were all dismissed for organizing a grand funeral for their father and accepting monetary gifts from mourners in April.

"Secret inspections have made me realize these 'minor sicknesses' could become fatal if not treated quickly," said Shi Minghua, from the Sanmenxia discipline inspection office in Henan.

The Party needs to apply similarly rigid rules as those it mapped out in the blueprint on comprehensively advancing rule of law, said Xu Yaotong, Chinese Academy of Governance political science professor.

"The frugality campaign is popular among the public and some Party members, and officials have said goodbye to their previously extravagant and busy life styles," said Xu.

The work style campaign is the most intensive in the history of the Party and has strongly boosted public morale, said Yuan Yinchuan, a professor in Marxism at Wuhan University in Hubei Province.

Officials have more free time than before thanks to the campaign.

"I have fewer dinners with others and thus drink less liquor. Instead, I have more time to think about my work, do physical exercise and spend time with my family," said Li Ruiqin, deputy head of the Hubei environment protection department.

Li said he hoped officials stick to the rules and do not return to their old ways.

Yet a tough challenge lies ahead, as deep-rooted extravagance is still rampant in certain circles.

The Party should heighten political and administrative reform and strengthen supervision to improve work styles, said Xu.