A number of gifts that were illegally offered to civil servants in the city of Wuhan are set to be auctioned off on Nov. 19. The items include gift cards, jewelry, electronics and wine.

A total of 222 commodities will be auctioned off. A Sony camera has the lowest starting price of 10 RMB, while a 100-gram Chow Tai Fook gold bullion has the highest starting price of 17,400 RMB. Over the course of two auctions, 690 gift cards with a total value of 880,000 RMB will be sold. The starting price for each card is 78 percent of the card's face value.

Other items include luxury products such as Hermes scarves, ties and T-shirts, Givenchy shirts and Rolex watches. The starting prices of these high-end items are significantly lower than retail value.

The auction was jointly organized by the Wuhan Commission for Discipline Inspection and the city’s finance bureau. Its aim is to dispose of the illegal gifts in a transparent and decisive manner. According to relevant provisions, civil servants may not receive gifts that violate regulations. If they cannot decline the gifts, they must officially hand the gifts to their supervising institutions. According to Wuhan regulations, these gifts can be disposed of through auction.

“This is the first time for us to [get rid of the gifts through] auctions. We hope to deal with the gifts in an open and transparent manner. It also avoids a waste of assets,” said an official of the Wuhan Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The auction proceeds will be turned over to the state treasury.