Welfare Lottery transforms training base into luxury center  

福彩中心培训基地改建皇家庄园

清理整顿培训中心被纳入群众路线教育实践活动整改范围后，各地纷纷采取措施落实。然而记者采访发现，在一些地方，公款吃喝、奢华消费仍以低调、隐秘的方式持续着。近日，记者来到距安徽黄山风景区北门8公里、十分僻静的“黄山福泰·VISTA庄园”。这里建筑面积达1.4万平方米，5栋楼组成的准五星级酒店庄园内，小溪穿过，环境优雅，内部装饰奢华程度惊人。知情人士介绍，这座庄园为中国福利彩票发行管理中心的黄山培训基地。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) --A large and luxurious "training center" of China's state-run welfare Lottery center has been exposed by the country's state press agency.

Training centers for government officials and state-owned enterprise employees have become the latest targets in China's ongoing anti-corruption drive. But the campaign has seldom touched the country's lottery industry before.

At the north gate of the Huangshan Mountain scenic area in Anhui province, a building complex is hidden in an obscure corner. Composed of five buildings with luxury interiors, it could compete with five-star hotels, Xinhua News Agency said.

However, it is officially called a training center for the China Welfare Lottery Issuing and Management Center, subordinate to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. An employee at the center said they had witnessed few actual training sessions since 2001, but that they had offered services exclusively to numerous groups of government employees.

According to a sales manager at the center, there are seven large dining halls with different themes, as well as a 2,000-square-meter area with red carpet. The manager said the center's chefs had received more than 10 years of training in France.

The manager also introduced a "royal" red wine gallery, where world-famous wines were on display for "high-end" customers.

An anonymous insider said a meal there costs thousands of yuan, but that officials lie on their invoices in order to get expenses reimbursed.

"I think that only officials from departments with plenty of money can afford the high bills," he said.

The People's Daily, the Party's flagship newspaper, described how such training centers function more like spas, but were passed off as places for training sessions or meetings. They are a waste of public money, the paper said.

China's welfare lottery sales totaled 98.5 billion yuan (about 15.7 billion US dollars) during the first half of 2014, up 15.5 percent year on year, authorities announced in July.

According to the China Welfare Lottery Issuing and Management Center, lottery sales raised more than 28 billion yuan in public welfare funding from January to June, an increase of over 13 percent year on year.

Half of the country's public welfare funds go to China's treasury, while the other half is distributed to local governments across the country. Funds are then allocated to social welfare programs and charities.