China bans shark fin dishes at official banquets

Չինաստան, շնաձկան լողակներ,ճաշատեսակներ

 

China has banned dishes containing delicacies like shark fin and and bird’s nest from official banquets as part of a government crackdown on official extravagance.

Chinese authorities published new regulations that “explicitly ruled out dishes containing shark fins, bird nests and wild animal products in official reception dinners,” the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

 

Չինաստան, շնաձկան լողակներ,ճաշատեսակներ

Xinhua also said that cigarettes and up-market liquors are not allowed to be served at official dinners and officials below provincial level should not stay in hotel suites on business trips.

The new rules aim to “regulate the use of public funding on receptions,” Xinhua added.

President Xi Jinping has made tackling official corruption a priority since taking power earlier this year.

Some hotels in Hong Kong and China have also removed shark’s fin soup from their menus and airlines like, Cathay Pacific, have banned the product from cargo holds.

Up to 73 million sharks are estimated to be killed each year, according to a 2006 academic study quoted on the website of campaign group Hong Kong Shark Foundation.