City criticized for expensive govt complex

Hailun city has come under fire for spending more than 100 million yuan ($16.5 million) to construct a luxury government complex, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Covering an area of more than 20,000 square meters, the complex includes a 13-story main building and two five-story sub-wings. The complex includes 820 office rooms and more than 40 conference halls.

Hailun, in Heilongjiang province, is an impoverished county-level city that still has to apply for poverty-relief funds for economic construction and agricultural production, a local resident said.

"The luxury government complex, which was completed early this year, damaged the government's image," the resident said.

Hailun also has more than 170,000 poor farmers whose annual per capita income is less than 1,300 yuan.

Many farmers still have to rely heavily on bank loans and other borrowed money, Xinhua reported.