Front Page of the Day

Government landmark for sale

nanfangdushibao.jpg
Southern Metropolis Daily
July 17, 2008

When construction began in 2004 on the new municipal service center of Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan province, the project repeatedly drew criticism for being overly extravagant. The government nevertheless insisted that it has the approval of the State Council.

The service center, which cost over 1.2 billion yuan, is a cluster of seven buildings centered around a dome shaped structure, which resembles the National Theater in Beijing.

On July 16, the Chengdu government called a press conference to announce that the service center will be auctioned to raise money for reconstruction work in ares destroyed by the recent Wenchuan earthquake.

xin_0220705170930500145214.jpg
Municipal service center of Chengdu

He Zhanghua, the director of the Chengdu publicity department, said,"Times are difficult, people's lives are difficult...the earthquake has changed the basis upon which we make decisions." Li Chunchen, Party secretary of Chengdu, commented that the decision demonstrates the government's willingness to stand by the people through the hard times.

Government offices that have already moved to the new service center will move back to their original sites. It is said that the center will likely be sold to companies for commercial use.

Links and Sources
 
There are currently 2 Comments for Government landmark for sale.

Comments on Government landmark for sale

I think it is not neccessary even the earthquake hadn`t taken place.you can see luxury government building all over china from Beijing to small townships.The trend of building extravagant office building began in middle 1980s(禁止修建楼堂馆所),it has always been forbiden by government and critized by socielty from then.Unfortunately the trend hasn`t been held back,instead it has become biger and biger in 20 years.This article hit the point.but I still want to add someting --the official furnitures are also extravagant.It is common that officals has a desk of morae than 10,000 rmb in my city (450,000 dwellers),.

Pure populism. The land on which their current offices are located is worth much more than the cost of their new offices (including land, construction, etc).

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Books on China
CHN88.jpg
In Wang Shuo's No Man's Land: Geremie Barme addresses Wang Shuo's 千万别把我当人.
Swimming with Mao, a memoir essay: This memoir piece is by Xujun Eberlein, author of the new short story book Apologies Forthcoming'.
Long Hair Drama, by Zhang Lijia: An except from Zhang Lijia's book 'Socialism is Great!: A Worker's Memoir of the New China'.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Men behind the Nanny (2005.04): The Publicity Department (formerly known as the Propaganda Department) has held a "forum" in Beijing to promote what it calls "news editorial staff management regulations (in testing phase)". These regulations appear to be same the set of rules earlier reported on Danwei of which the stated intent is to clear up corrupt journalistic practices.
+ What's wrong with Thirteen Princess Trees? (2007.03): The movie Thirteen Princess Trees (十三棵泡桐) directed by Lu Yue (吕乐) is delayed for a second round of review by the China Film Bureau.
+ Learning about America from prison flicks (2006.12): What Hollywood is teaching the world through prison films and TV shows like Prison Break and The Shawshank Redemption
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main posts: All main page posts
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30