China Orders Central, Local Spending Cut

PEKING — China’s central and local administrative organs must cut spending this year by 10%, according to a directive issued by China’s State Council.

The cuts will apply to administrative expenditures as well as management expenses, said the directive, published last week in the People’s Daily.

The state must combat spiraling expenditures, inflated bureaucracy and waste brought about by rising costs, the directive said.

Economic reforms introduced to China’s cities last October are aimed at streamlining bureaucracy, decentralizing the economy and encouraging private enterprise.

The government is clamping down on a wave of profiteering, extravagance and consumer cheating by people who see the reforms as a way to make a profit any way they can.