Public spit over governments’ calling on officials to spend at restaurants in China

By Chen Shasha Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/20 17:16:46

Photo: Li Hao/GT


Northwest China’s Gansu Province issued a proposal on Thursday to advocate that government officials take the lead in "eating out" amid the sluggish economic recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal suggested that officials spend no less than 200 yuan ($28.3) a week in having meals outside their homes.

Zhang Anjun, director of the food circulation department of the Gansu Administration for Market Regulation, told the Global Times on Friday that the proposal is intended to restore consumer confidence by setting an example for the public through the government officials.

Although restaurants in Gansu are resuming business amid the clear signs of the pandemic waning, many restaurants have closed again as few customers visited due to fear of coronavirus infection, according to their survey, Zhang said.

According to Zhang, the province has reported no new confirmed coronavirus cases since February 18. "So it is safe to eat at restaurants by keeping social distance," Zhang said, adding that they want the public to know that they have confidence in epidemic control.

However, some netizens questioned whether the government should set a standard on spending.

"The salary of a civil servant is limited. If you spend 200 yuan a week, it will be 1,000 yuan a month, which takes up half of the monthly salary," one Sina Weibo user commented. Some also worried that government officials might spend public money using this excuse.

Zhang explained that the proposal is not mandatory for officials, and the bills should be paid by the officials personally.

The catering industry takes up no more than 10 percent of the province’s economy, Zhang said. But it has a clear driving effect in many aspects including employment. "The prosperity of a city's economy can be directly reflected through the catering industry," Zhang added.

A civil servant in Zhangye of Gansu, surnamed Wang, told the Global Times on Friday that he has not received any official notice from his department about this proposal.

"But if so, I am willing to respond to the appeal to eat outside in a bid to support the catering business through its difficulties," Wang said.

The catering industry has been severely hit by the coronavirus outbreak. According to a survey released by the China Chain-Store & Franchise Association on March 18, the surveyed catering enterprises saw a year-on-year sales decline of 80 to 90 percent in February.

And 79 percent of the companies said that, from March 1, they could not support themselves for another three months on their own cash.

The local governments of Chinese cities are taking different measures to boost spending power. Dezhou of East China’s Shandong Province issued a similar appeal on March 17 among government officials to call on them to spend at restaurants and shopping malls.

Nanjing of East China's Jiangsu Province issued vouchers worth 318 million yuan to residents in a bid to facilitate spending and Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang Province issued vouchers of 100 million yuan, according to media reports

The deputy mayor of Southwest China's Chongqing went to have hotpot, the symbolic food of the city, at a local restaurant on March 17, according to media reports, in an effort to give citizens confidence in the shopping environment and the city’s epidemic control achievement.

A 31-year-old Chongqing resident Shi Juan told the Global Times on Friday that she went for a hotpot meal with her family soon after she learned the news. "That was so satisfying, hotpot in the restaurants is totally different from homemade ones."

Shi noted the customers in the restaurant she went to were still limited compared with the days before the pandemic. "But more people are going to restaurants now after the deputy mayor went," she said, adding that people still need to be wary of potential infection and make sure they are well protected with masks.

 
A customer selects goods at a supermarket in Shanghai on February 25.

Newspaper headline: Public spit over governments' calling on officials to spend at restaurants in China


Posted in: SOCIETY,CHINA FOCUS

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