Opulent gov’t buildings caught in crosshairs of graft crackdown

The magnificent compound of the city government of Nanyang, Henan Province, stands as an awkward monument to China's ongoing frugality campaign.

Its nine Greek-style buildings, complete with plaza, may amaze many first-time passersby, but those who take a closer look will notice its air of desertion. The "palaces" have stood empty for nearly two years.

According to residents, local officials razed two unfinished residential buildings to make way for the media center of the 7th National Peasants' Games, a sporting event. After the seven-day event in 2012, officials said city departments would move into the building in order to "properly re-use the site and avoid waste."

However, the plan was foiled by a national campaign launched in late 2012 targeting bureaucracy, formalism and government extravagance, which was followed by a ban on construction of new government buildings in mid-2013.

Though the injunction did not include completed buildings like Nanyang's, local officials concluded that moving into a deluxe new building in the midst of a crackdown was not a good idea.

"This whole (luxury complex) is not something we can boast about," a local publicity official said.

Like Nanyang, many Chinese localities have seen newly built government offices abandoned as officials worry about public outcry and reprimands from higher authorities.

However, observers say that local governments seeking to fix their previous mistakes may end up triggering a second round of waste.

Bitter taste

In February, the government of Yandong township of Jiangsu Province retreated from its new complex 20 days after moving in. Officials had planned a low-key transfer but were exposed by members of the public.

Observers said these empty palaces were evidence of local governments' proclivity for lavish spending, as well as the power of the country's ongoing anti-extravagance campaign.

Like other forms of government extravagance, glitzy new headquarters have left a bitter taste among the public. In some poverty-ridden areas, the buildings stand in stark contrast to poorly equipped schools and hospitals.

Last year, the city of Hailun in Heilongjiang Province came under fire for lobbying for poverty aid while investing 100 million yuan ($16 million) for its new government building. Doubts were also raised after a number of Chinese cities and counties built grand office buildings resembling the United States' White House.

Shi Pu , a professor with the Henan University of Economics and Law, said the deluxe office buildings are an "ostentation of bureaucracy and hedonism," using public money and seriously damaging the image of local governments.

But in many cases, a new government headquarters means more than a cozy nest. Shi said some projects allowed officials to trade favorable contracts with property developers for personal gains.

"Also, in China, wherever the government moves, investments follow. That's why many governments favor new headquarter in 'new economic zones'-it's a crooked way of boosting the economy," he said.

Shanghai-based The Paper reported on Sunday that a poverty-stricken county in Hunan Province has spent 20 million yuan to build government buildings under the guise of constructing residences. According to the media outlet, the Anren county government got their construction project approved and attracted investment through a financing mechanism banned for use in funding construction of government buildings by the central government in 2007.

The "built-transfer financing model" is widely practiced in China and allows governments to channel public funds to construction work, Caijing magazine reported in March in 2014. According to media reports, local governments inject capital into project and bring in a real estate company as a partner to cover the remaining cost. The government later buys back the building and other facilities, such as parking lots and adjacent.

Double the waste

Such extravagance has grounded to a halt under a sweeping campaign initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2012 to promote a cleaner and more effective government. The campaign has brought down a number of high-ranking corrupt officials, and frozen officials' luxury activities such as attending banquets and clubs.

In Xuancheng, Anhui Province, the government announced that they would implement Xi's campaign by moving more local government departments into its already-built oversized buildings and renovating officials' offices to make them smaller, such as dividing them into meeting rooms and lounge, the People's Daily reported on Sunday. However, there were no details on the cost of the renovation in the report.

Moreover, many local governments just leave those buildings empty, the result of a lack of supervision and relevant policy guidance from higher authorities, the Beijing-based Outlook Weekly reported on June 15.

To some analysts, the idle government buildings are a reminder that some officials are just waiting out the crackdown instead of facing up to their past mistakes.

Shao Xiaoying, a sociologist with Fudan University, said some governments may cause more waste by letting their new buildings sit idle.

Shao pointed to new buildings in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as an example. Those buildings were never put into use because they violated national limits on government office size.

"We cannot turn a blind eye to existing luxury buildings. We must dig out the 'stories' behind them, hold people responsible and find ways to deal with these buildings," Shao said.