April 19, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 01, 1428

BEIJING: China is cracking down on government workers' and Communist Party cadres' habit of constructing extravagant office buildings for themselves, state press reported on Wednesday.

Expensive but less-than-vital features such as indoor gardens and karaoke stages will be banned, said a circular from the cabinet and the Communist Party carried by the People's Daily newspaper.

It said some recent luxurious construction projects had been funded with poverty alleviation or disaster relief money.

“The trend is picking up with some local governments,” the circular said.

Official corruption, often visible in the luxurious lifestyles of government cadres, has become a top cause of public discontent in China and the government has said, year after year, that stamping it out is a top priority.—AFP