SOEs ban luxury lottery gifts at year-end parties  

国企机关年会瘦身奖品缩水iPad变牙膏 部分单位停办

临近12月，到了年会预订高峰。往年，温泉酒店、五星级饭店都是一房难求，今年在中央严抓四风的背景下，年会预订量大幅下降。北京多家星级酒店、年会策划公司 均表示今年国企年会大幅减少，企业和政府部门早早打来电话，“说落实中央精神，今年停办年会”。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Thanks to the national campaign to combat extravagance and waste initiated by China's central government, tubes of toothpaste rather than iPads will be lottery gifts at year-end galas held by state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to a report released by Gmw.cn on Thursday.

It has long been a tradition for state-run companies in China to hold year-end parties that feature floor shows and lotteries after the New Year holiday.

This year, however, these companies are changing their style, said an official of a party planning company. Instead of sending expensive items like iPads and iPhones as lottery gifts for employees, employers are handing out towels and toothpaste.

To avoid media attention to the expenses of year-end galas, some enterprises are throwing the parties before the New Year holiday, according to a gala planner in Beijing's Chaoyang district.

"There are enterprises which have even changed the names of their galas. They call them 'training sessions for employees'," he said.

"In the past, our company would normally invite stars to perform at the gala to add fun to the event, but this year we will stage shows performed only by our employees to reduce expenses," said a person in charge of the gala at a major state-owned enterprise.

Xi Jinping, leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), announced in June that the CPC's year-long campaign would be a "thorough cleanup" of undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.