Spending appropriately
- By Yin Pumin
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E-mail Beijing Review, March 4, 2014
Car use also creates more opportunities for corruption, as some officials run up large bills on gasoline and "repairs" in order to receive reimbursements from the government, according to anti-graft experts.
In an effort to combat the trend, the government of Xinyu in Jiangxi decided last December that it would auction off 83 percent of the vehicles belonging to it. As a result, up to 15 million yuan ($2.45 million) in administrative costs is estimated to be saved each year.
Less stringent, but still effective, moves have also been implemented in other regions.
In Yongsheng County in Lijiang City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, government cars are clearly marked, allowing the public to easily identify them and report misuse. This practice is shared by the government of Sihong County in east China's Jiangsu Province.
In Guangzhou, GPS technology and a user identification system were adopted two years ago to track misused government vehicles, a move which local supervisory authorities estimate helped save 40 million yuan ($6.58 million) in a year.
The 400 government vehicles in Qitai County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, are also monitored via GPS at all hours.
However, it's still widely believed among the public that "corruption on wheels" cannot be eradicated unless the decades-old system of government vehicles is reformed.
According to a survey conducted recently by China Youth Daily, more than 71 percent of the respondents support the abolition of vehicles for officials.
The survey sampled 5,100 people, who blame lax enforcement of existing measures for vehicle-based corruption.
According to Ye, China may have more than 2 million government cars. "It is hard for discipline watchdogs to monitor the use of every car," Ye said.
The ultimate goal of the reform is to abolish the system of government cars, except for a very few vehicles for special use, Ye added.
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