SOE boss suspended for flouting frugality campaign

GUANGZHOU - The boss of a State-owned enterprise in South China was suspended from his post on Tuesday due to his part in a luxury banquet last month which flouted the country's frugality campaign.

Zhou Shaoqiang, general manager of Zhuhai Financial Investment Holdings Co Ltd, was ordered to undertake self-reflection over public expenditure which exceeded standards, said the Communist Party of China's discipline authorities in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

A banquet which Zhou and 16 others had in a local restaurant on Jan 4 cost 37, 517 yuan ($5, 974), far more than the fake bill of 4, 689 yuan, which the restaurant had claimed under the instruction of Zhou.

The high expenditure "seriously violated regulations at central, provincial and municipal levels and caused an extremely bad social impact," said the authorities in a statement.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has recently urged all official organs to maintain a frugal lifestyle and oppose extravagance.