BEIJING (Reuters) - A ban on the construction of new government buildings in China is not being enforced effectively, the government said on Friday, ordering a new crackdown to ensure promises are kept to rein in extravagance and pervasive corruption.
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Numerous scandals in recent years have centered on excessive expenditure on new government buildings by officials, often in poverty-struck inland regions.
Some local governments have embezzled poverty-alleviation and disaster-relief funds to build themselves offices and other facilities, sometimes with dazzling opulence.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made fighting graft and extravagance a key platform of his new government, seeking to calm public anger over waste and corruption by government officials.