Sangong 三公经费

Sangong 三公经费

“Sangong,” or three public expenditures, refers to public money spent on official receptions, vehicles and overseas travel. Taxpayers have long viewed this spending as sources of corruption and waste, allowing officials to misuse public funds for international travel, lavish banquets and government cars driven for private purposes. In December, the government started a campaign to trim such fat. The National Audit Office looked over the books of 38 central departments and found 80 percent of them have problems with their sangong spending. The State Oceanic Administration, for example, was found to have spent six days in France and Chile during a 13-day trip to visit Chinese researchers in the Antarctic in 2012. Also, the China Geological Survey Bureau took an excursion to Las Vegas while in the United States to survey shale gas exploration in 2013. The team lied about the trip, saying they were in Canada doing their job.