Chinese oil giant Sinopec bans lavish staff weddings

Beijing - Staff at China’s state-owned oil giant Sinopec have been told to avoid staging lavish weddings and funerals.

The move is line with the ruling Communist party’s campaign to crack down on “extravagance and hedonism”.

A new directive states that the number of guests at the wedding or funeral of any middle-level or high-level Sinopec employee must be not exceed 150, the oil company’s official website reported last week.

“To oppose extravagance and waste and avoid any negative impact” the cost of banquets should be not be greater than local average levels, the directive says.

Supervisors, subordinates, clients or any work-related individuals or companies should not be invited to attend such events, while their gifts should not be accepted, it says.

Last November, Chinese social media users were stunned by online images of a lavish multimillion-yuan wedding of a mainland energy and real estate tycoon’s son.

The photographs posted online by spectators, which attracted national headlines, showed a fleet of 30 Rolls-Royce Phantoms taking guests to the 9,999 yuan-per table (HK$12,600) banquet in Tangshan, Hebei province.

The pictures also showed the newlyweds – Liu He – son of Hebei province businessman Liu Baoli – and his bride, the daughter of a village chief – driving to the wedding banquet in their bright red Ferrari followed by a fleet of luxury motorcycles.

The new directive covers all of Sinopec’s middle- and high-level staff, including its subsidiary corporations and affiliated institutes.

Company-funded vehicles and gifts bought using public funds are not permitted at such events, the directive says.

The rulings are part of mainland China’s efforts to clamp down on extravagance among party cadres, and the Communist party’s call for strict self-discipline to help fight corruption, the report said.

President Xi Jinping has launched far-reaching campaigns to fight corruption and rein in extravagant spending among party cadres, government officials and senior military officers to improve the public perception of the government and the ruling Communist party.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s top graft-buster, announced the largest round of disciplinary inspections against state-owned enterprises last month.

It said a total of 26 Chinese state-owned enterprises including key players in the nation’s energy and telecommunication industries, would be the main targets of this year’s campaign.

SCMP