The Chinese communist leadership has committed to austerity and is renouncing the red carpet, luxurious banquets, and other extravagances reserved for top officials, state media reported on Wednesday.
Promises of austerity are not new as they have accompanied top-level meetings, but they have often remained dead letters on paper, leading to growing dissatisfaction among the population furious about the enormous privileges enjoyed by the political class.
This time, the leadership has renounced the waste of state funds following the meeting of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party on Tuesday. The Politburo is the core of the Chinese Communist Party, chaired by the new General Secretary Xi Jingping, appointed in November at the party congress.
By the decision of the 25-member Politburo, red carpets, welcome signs, floral arrangements, and large receptions during official visits are prohibited, the text states.
Traffic restrictions during the passage of official vehicle convoys, which have regularly been a source of dissatisfaction in large cities, are being eased. Delegations on trips are being reduced, and when Chinese officials travel abroad, they will have to forgo the numerous welcoming committee at the destination airport where they were traditionally greeted by Chinese expatriates and schoolchildren with red flags.
