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November 22, 2005
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Driving China
Beijing has announced a clampdown on limousine useage for Government officials. The Standard today gives us an idea of the scale of government owned cars in China: To get some idea of the amazing number of Chinese bureaucrats there are shuffling along in government-owned cars, consider this: maintenance and operation of official limousines in 1999 was taking up 3.6 percent of the national budget and costing 300 billion yuan (HK$287.88 billion). That was nearly three times the 107.64 billion yuan China was admitting to spending on the national defense budget, although of course the unofficial defense budget runs much higher, to about 20 percent of GDP. In the 1990s, the average number of official limousines grew 27 percent a year. Nearly a quarter of all government procurements in 2004 were for limousines for bureaucrats. Probably one out of every two cars you see on a highway in China is operating at government expense.It is, quite frankly, staggering. It also generates second order effects: the huge number of cars on the road drives demand for more roads, creates traffic congestion, leads to pollution, needs more parking stations and increases demand for fuel. Most importantly, where are all these cadres going and why? Shouldn't public servants use public transport like the rest of the public? posted by Simon on 11.22.05 at 08:54 AM in the China category.
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Comments:
everyone at the rank of deputy-minister or up for an Audi A6, and all the gas/etc paid if refueled at the specific gas station, and a driver. it is not a lot given that the Chinese officials are underpaid. they should probably increase the salary instead. (like Sing and HK). --- As Sun said, government jobs underpay...but they get alot of good stuff (cars, housing, healthcare), that counter the low pay. Private sector jobs pay more, but the chances of you getting the extras are slim. posted by: GZ Expat on 11.23.05 at 06:46 AM [permalink] |
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