Moutai at epicenter of extravagance debate
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E-mail Xinhua, March 15, 2012
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Moutai [file photo] |
Premium liquor brand Moutai has become the center of heated debate, both at the annual parliamentary session and on the Internet, amid the current outcry in China over officials' dining extravagance funded by public money.
The latest trigger was a Moutai executive's response when asked about a national political adviser's proposal to ban the pricey booze in government-funded dining sessions.
"If Moutai was banned, I would be confused what drink could be served at government receptions. Should it be Lafite (luxury French wine Chateau Lafite Rothschild) instead?" said Liu Zili, general manager of Guizhou Province-based Kweichow Moutai Distillery Co, at a Friday media event.
Liu's remarks touched a nerve in many people who have long criticized government officials' receptions, overseas tours and car use funded by taxes, citing them as corruption.
Whether Moutai should be consumed by officials on public funds has ranked among the top topics on Weibo.com, the Chinese-language microblogging service, with more than 2 million entries posted on the subject since the weekend.
"If officials pay themselves, nobody will care what kind of drink they have. But how can they spend taxpayers' money on drinking Moutai or Lafite? How about setting a cap of 30 yuan (US$4.75) for each meal per person if a meal is necessary for overtime work?" read a Weibo post on Tuesday.
China's most famous liquor, Moutai ranked as the fourth-most-valuable luxury brand globally in the latest Hurun Report, a publication about the country's entrepreneurs.
The retail price of an ordinary 0.5-liter bottle of Moutai that contains 53 percent alcohol has surged from about 200 yuan per bottle in 2003 to more than 2,000 yuan per bottle in 2011, an increase of nearly 1,000 percent. Widely recognized among the favorite options at government receptions, the liquor brand has become a watchword for misuse of public funds and corruption by officials in China.
In his proposal to ban Moutai in government dining, political adviser Lin Jialai termed public-funded government receptions a major driving force behind the soaring price of the liquor.
However, microbloggers had more to say.
"If Moutai were not allowed, they would probably choose more expensive wine," read an entry posted by "Fuerdiaocha." The post said it was unwise to attack Moutai, a time-honored brand, when the real target should be the way the government uses public money.
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