Chinese disciplinary body's spending drops

BEIJING -- Spending by China's disciplinary and supervisory organs significantly dropped in 2013 as the country's anti-extravagance drive continued.

Money spent on receptions, meetings and printing decreased by 61 percent, 59 percent and 13 percent respectively last year compared with the figure in 2012, according to a Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) statement on Saturday.

The drops are the result of an "eight-point" anti-bureaucracy and formalism rule that was introduced at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in late 2012.

CPC officials were told to reduce pomp, ceremony, bureaucratic visits and meetings.

The number of public duty outbound visits fell by 26 percent last year, according to the statement.

Some 810,000 people working for disciplinary and supervisory organs have submitted reports to prove that they are no longer holders of VIP cards after the CCDI required its officials and employees to discard "all kinds of membership cards received in different names" in May.

The membership card campaign, together with other bans on public funded gifts during holidays and luxurious funerals, targets the possibility of bribery.