New Chinese Leaders Ban Pomp and Ceremony

Party leaders scale back elaborate lifestyles for bureaucratic heads

Party leaders will no longer be greeted wherever they go with cheering crowds, banners, red carpets and elaborate flower displays, said a statement on Chinese state media after a meeting of the new 25-man Politburo.

The updated rules also ban dull, long speeches and fawning write-ups in the state newspapers, as the party tries to reshape its image.

In recent years, even the lowliest Communist party officials have enjoyed a fin-de-siècle lifestyle, being chauffeured around in luxury cars and greeted by crowds of well-marshalled schoolchildren.