Senior official urges perseverance of austerity campaign

Liu Yunshan (2nd L), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, presides over a meeting on the Party's "mass-line" campaign in Beijing, China, Oct. 12, 2014. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, Oct. 12 -- A senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday urged efforts to consolidate the achievements of the "mass line" campaign.

"It is not easy to get such results in a campaign, and even harder to maintain those achievements," said Liu Yunshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

"Mass line" refers to a guideline under which CPC officials and members are required to prioritize the interests of the people and exercise power on their behalf.

Based on arrangements made at the 18th National Congress of the CPC in November 2012, the campaign began in June 2013 with the aim of cultivating closer ties with the people.

"The close of the campaign is not the end of good work styles," Liu said, adding that the policy of cleaning up undesirable work styles will be maintained.

During the campaign, official meetings were reduced by 586,000, almost 25 percent fewer than in the period before the campaign began. Over 160,000 phantom staff were removed from the government payroll and almost 115,000 vehicles taken out of illicit private use and returned to exclusive regular government affairs. Construction of 2,580 unnecessary official buildings was stopped.