Ren Yuling, a member of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said yesterday the Chinese Government's administrative expenses increased by 87 times during the 25 years between 1978 and 2003.

Ren criticized the huge waste made by some local governments that spent revenues lavishly on unnecessary conferences and banquets or building luxurious office buildings.

Animal welfare call

Zhou Ping, a deputy from Sichuan Province to the 10th National People's Congress, yesterday appealed to the congress's current annual session to enact a law on protecting animal welfare as soon as possible.

Zhou said the law should include the banning of mistreatment of animals and consumption of wild animals and measures to improve means of slaughtering animals.

(China Daily March 8, 2006)