Welfare Lottery transforms training base into luxury center  

福彩中心培訓基地改建皇家莊園

清理整頓培訓中心被納入群眾路線教育實踐活動整改范圍后，各地紛紛采取措施落實。然而記者采訪發現，在一些地方，公款吃喝、奢華消費仍以低調、隱秘的方式持續著。近日，記者來到距安徽黃山風景區北門8公里、十分僻靜的“黃山福泰·VISTA莊園”。這里建筑面積達1.4萬平方米，5棟樓組成的準五星級酒店莊園內，小溪穿過，環境優雅，內部裝飾奢華程度驚人。知情人士介紹，這座莊園為中國福利彩票發行管理中心的黃山培訓基地。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) --A large and luxurious "training center" of China's state-run welfare Lottery center has been exposed by the country's state press agency.

Training centers for government officials and state-owned enterprise employees have become the latest targets in China's ongoing anti-corruption drive. But the campaign has seldom touched the country's lottery industry before.

At the north gate of the Huangshan Mountain scenic area in Anhui province, a building complex is hidden in an obscure corner. Composed of five buildings with luxury interiors, it could compete with five-star hotels, Xinhua News Agency said.

However, it is officially called a training center for the China Welfare Lottery Issuing and Management Center, subordinate to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. An employee at the center said they had witnessed few actual training sessions since 2001, but that they had offered services exclusively to numerous groups of government employees.

According to a sales manager at the center, there are seven large dining halls with different themes, as well as a 2,000-square-meter area with red carpet. The manager said the center's chefs had received more than 10 years of training in France.

The manager also introduced a "royal" red wine gallery, where world-famous wines were on display for "high-end" customers.

An anonymous insider said a meal there costs thousands of yuan, but that officials lie on their invoices in order to get expenses reimbursed.

"I think that only officials from departments with plenty of money can afford the high bills," he said.

The People's Daily, the Party's flagship newspaper, described how such training centers function more like spas, but were passed off as places for training sessions or meetings. They are a waste of public money, the paper said.

China's welfare lottery sales totaled 98.5 billion yuan (about 15.7 billion US dollars) during the first half of 2014, up 15.5 percent year on year, authorities announced in July.

According to the China Welfare Lottery Issuing and Management Center, lottery sales raised more than 28 billion yuan in public welfare funding from January to June, an increase of over 13 percent year on year.

Half of the country's public welfare funds go to China's treasury, while the other half is distributed to local governments across the country. Funds are then allocated to social welfare programs and charities.