This is normally the season to eat, drink and give away iPads in China. Before lunar new year, companies, institutions and government departments traditionally stage lavish parties in bling-bedecked venues where every raffle ticket is a winner. Think office Christmas parties, taken to another level.
But now the decree has come from on high: no more golden chopsticks in the iron rice bowl. President Xi Jinping has inaugurated an era of Chinese abstemiousness and civil servants have been ordered to stop taking bribes, stop wasting money and stop talking nonsense at endless meetings. They have even been told they cannot get up from the table until they have cleaned their plates; talk about a nanny state.
So this is no longer the season to be covetous: state-owned enterprises and government departments have either cancelled their new year parties – often for the second year running – or radically scaled back the prizes on offer. One replaced the top prize of an iPad with toothpaste.