Eight disciplined in railway construction scandal

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Eight disciplined in railway construction scandal

(Xinhua) 13:21, October 21, 2013

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Eight people have been given Party or administrative punishment in a scandal that involved high reception spending at a railway construction company, a discipline official said Monday.

The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) admitted in March it spent 837-million-yuan (135 million U.S.dollars) on receptions last year, leading to public outrage.

Investigations found spending on reception fees was generally in accordance with regulations. However, there were problems as invoices were unstandardized, reimbursements of expenses were not strict enough and accounting was inappropriately classified, said Qiang Weidong, who is in charge of disciplinary affairs of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Authorities have punished those found violating laws and regulations at CRCC. A total of 57 people have been criticized, eight punished and one transferred to judicial authorities for prosecution, Qiang said during an interview with a website opened by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the anti-graft agency of the Communist Party of China.

The management of CRCC has taken measures to rectify problems and control costs, he said.

During the first half of this year, the company reported a 20 percent drop in reception spending while its revenue grew 26 percent year on year, Qiang said.

"I think there will be no problem that annual reception fees drop 10 percent this year," he said.

（Editor：HuangJin、Gao Yinan）