Three public consumptions

Three public consumptions

Three public consumptions 三公消费

Since May 2011, the State Council has repeatedly called on its ministries to reduce "squandering practices" and make their fiscal information public in more areas and "provide greater details", especially regarding funds used for the "three public consumptions" - overseas travel, receptions and official cars - as these items have long been criticized as "sources of corruption and degeneration".

The government's "opaque" spending has exacerbated public concerns about potential corruption and extravagance on the part of officials. Statistics provided by Minister of Finance Xie Xuren showed central departments and government-owned public institutions spent 9.47 billion yuan on the three items in 2010.

Meanwhile, many Chinese have accused the government of deliberately omitting information regarding its extravagant spending of public funds on receptions, official vehicles and other personal expenses in their fiscal statements.