Guangzhou to release operations of official cars

The Guangdong provincial capital will make the operation system of the city’s government cars public starting in April, according to a senior official at the Guangzhou Party Commission of Discipline Inspection.

“The move aims to put the operation system of the city’s government cars under the supervision of the media and the public to prevent the misuse of government vehicles, or its use for private purposes,” Mei Heqing, a member of the standing committee of the city’s anti-graft body, said at a press conference in Guangzhou on Wednesday.

A total of 8,491 official cars in the southern metropolis were equipped with an electronic monitoring system and a GPS system last year, in a bid to prevent the misuse of government vehicles, Mei said.

A special group was also set up last year to help investigate the misuse of public cars.

The departments that manage the cars can now know immediately where the vehicles are and who are driving them, and can also directly call the people inside the cars or send them text messages, Mei said.

The electronic monitoring system has proved effective in reducing the number of government cars used for private purposes in the past year, with big reductions in terms of car maintenance expenses, Mei said.

After the electronic monitoring system was fitted in government cars, a car on average covered 1,291.32 kilometers a month in 2012, down 27.04 percent year-on-year.

The cost of a government car has been reduced by more than 5,000 yuan ($796.18) a year in 2012, saving the city’s government more than 42 million yuan last year.

“Many senior officials who used to drive their official cars have started to take taxis or use other transportation modes during weekends and public holidays,” Mei said.