The public has voiced strong complaints about the extravagance of Party and government organs in recklessly constructing office buildings and guesthouses. Recently, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued a notice imposing a comprehensive halt on new construction of office buildings and guesthouses and tightening the management of office space, which has drawn widespread attention.

A comprehensive halt on new construction means the central government will no longer leave any “loopholes” for Party and government organs building offices and guesthouses; anyone who violates this will be stepping into a “minefield.” So why has the central government issued a “kill order” on the construction of offices and guesthouses by Party and government organs? Based on the attention and understanding of our reporters at China Deep Foundation Engineering, the main reasons are as follows:

First, these office buildings and guesthouses breed public discontent. Since its founding, the Party has defined leading cadres at all levels as public servants of the people and the people as masters, with its purpose being to serve the people wholeheartedly, and it has consistently practiced this purpose in good faith. In response to the weakening of this sense of purpose in some localities and the constant construction of office buildings and guesthouses—which grow ever larger and more luxurious—the people are displeased when they see them. They feel that such cadres do not resemble public servants, and that the image these cadres should present falls short of the people's expectations. In this contrast, people sense a misplacement of the master-servant relationship, which gives rise to their discontent.

Second, these office buildings and guesthouses harbor bureaucratic work styles. After the new central leadership collective with Xi Jinping as General Secretary took office, the central government proposed and carried out a rectification campaign against the “four malfeasances” in response to undesirable phenomena among some leading cadres. The reckless construction of luxurious office buildings and guesthouses is a typical symptom of the “four malfeasances.” In some places, office buildings are constructed with excessive floor area and modeled on star-rated hotels—a manifestation of formalism and bureaucracy; the purchase of luxurious office equipment and fine decoration reflects hedonism and extravagance. To effectively rectify work styles, it is necessary to start by firmly curbing these bureaucratic practices that the public can see and strongly objects to.

Third, these office buildings and guesthouses carry hidden risks of corruption. Among the cases of violations of discipline and law by Party members and leading cadres investigated in recent years, many involved falling from grace due to corruption in construction projects, and some were imprisoned for embezzling and accepting bribes on a large scale during the reckless construction of office buildings and guesthouses. Since the State Council promulgated and implemented the Interim Regulations on the Construction and Management of Office Buildings and Guesthouses in 1988, the central government has repeatedly issued strict orders and tightened control over them time and again. Yet some localities still ignored the central government's prohibitions, exploited policy loopholes, took borderline measures, and engaged in “countermeasures to circumvent policies from above”; some even went into debt to build offices and guesthouses. This shows that bureaucratic hedonism is one aspect, while the enormous temptation of interests in construction projects is also an important cause for those with weak willpower.

It is precisely because the reckless construction of office buildings and guesthouses by Party and government organs has created such adverse effects that the central government has imposed a comprehensive halt on new construction, fully demonstrating the determination and attitude of the new central leadership collective. This notice from the “two offices” differs from previous ones: it defines various violations very clearly and “shuts down” all侥幸 (luck-based) attempts, like a sword hanging overhead—anyone who dares to touch it again will bear the consequences.

Editor: Wu Yue