Chinese officials forced to take driving lessons after chauffer-driven cars taken off them
Curbs on wasteful spending lead to rise in learner drivers among cadres, but some make poor students as they are so domineering, according to state media report
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 31 March, 2015, 1:40pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 31 March, 2015, 9:49pm
Alice Yan [email protected]
A fleet of government cars and drivers wait to take delegates to the National People's Congress in Beijing four years ago, before the curbs on wasteful spending were introduced. Photo: AFP
Many senior government officials in China have had to learn to drive after their chauffer-driven cars were taken off them as part of efforts to curb wasteful and extravagant spending, state media reported.
But some are so used to taking charge and having their own way that they make poor students, Xinhua reported.
Driving instructors in Changchun in northeastern Jilin province said the number of students at their schools had risen significantly this year and some were government officials getting behind the wheel for the first time, Xinhua reported.
Driving in schools in Fuzhou in eastern Fujian province also said last year that numbers had increased due to officials taking lessons after the government reforms were introduced, the People’s Daily reported.
One school said more than 10 officials from one authority had enrolled at the same time, according to the report.
Driving instructors in Jilin said the senior officials were often older and with strong opinions about how to do things, so teaching them was a “headache”.
“I have a 56-year-old student who is the director of his government department and he was forced to apply to learn to drive thanks to the public car reforms,” an anonymous coach was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
“Since he is the person in charge in his department and the one making final decisions, he continues this habit and drives exactly as he wants. Therefore, he’s failed his test several times.”
Another coach said it was painful to teach some officials.
“They pick up driving skills relatively slowly compared with younger students. What’s more, having been leaders for years or powerful and aggressive in their department, these officials are erratic in learning.”
The central government announced last year that it was curbing the use of publicly-funded cars by officials and it told local authorities to produce detailed plans about how they would do the same by the end of 2015.
All senior ranks below deputy ministers in the central government are not allowed to commute in officials cars and are given a subsidy to fund their transport instead.
