For years, government expenditure on vehicles, receptions and overseas trips for officials—also known as the "three public-funded consumption categories"—has been a topic of contention among the Chinese public due to the large sums of money coupled with a lack of transparency.

Bagging the budget [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

At a work conference of the State Council, China's cabinet, on February 11, Premier Li Keqiang reiterated the Central Government's determination to solve the problems concerning the misuse of public funds. He required governments at all levels to produce detailed accounts of their expenses and to guarantee complete transparency.

"The misuse of public funds has long been accused of being a major source of corruption and waste. If left unchecked, the government's credibility will be undermined," said Wu Zhongmin, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Zhu Lijia, a public administration professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that transparency is one of the major standards used to evaluate a government's credibility. "What matters most is that detailed accounts, listing each specific purchase or trip paid with taxpayers' money, should be delivered to the public for their supervision," he said.

Zhu also recommended that prior audits be conducted by an independent party to give more credibility to the official data released in government agencies' financial accounts.

Downward trend

Just a month after their election, the new CPC leadership launched a campaign in December 2012 to promote frugality and cut out extravagance. Against this backdrop, publicly funded expenditure by officials has attracted greater attention from both the authorities and the public.