Photo: A parking attendant at a hotel covers up a license plate
Source: Guangzhou Daily

Apr 23, 2013
Translated by Liu Jingyue

The use of government cars by officials for personal use has long been a source of public dissatisfaction in China.

Back in 2011, Zhejiang's Songyang County introduced a new high-tech solution aimed at curbing mis-use of government vehicles. The county installed GPS in official cars in order to monitor their use.

According to a report in the People's Daily back in 2011, with just one click of their mouse, officials in the county's Commission for Discipline Inspection are able to check the position of the entire fleet of 439 official cars.

Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, introduced similar measures back in 2009, though the project there was more aimed at monitoring vehicles such as garbage trucks and various emergency and law enforcement vehicles.

The Guangzhou Municipal Government also discussed plans to introduce a similar system to monitor official car use back in 2011 and now, about two years later, it's finally being put into practice.

According to Mei Heqing (梅河清), the spokesperson for the Guangzhou Commission for Discipline Inspection, the technology being employed in the city will alert both the driver of a car and the administration office responsible for the vehicle if an official vehicle is detected at a non work-related location.

In a report in today's Southern Metropolis Daily, Mei went on to describe how there are six inspection stations monitoring 8,491 official vehicles that have been installed with a GPS device that uses the Chinese-developed Beidou Navigation Satellite System.

If any of these vehicles are found to be parked for more than two hours near a golf course or hotel; or stop close to a high-end entertainment venue such as a sauna or karaoke bar for an even shorter period, the system will automatically send out an alert.

The system also monitors late-night use of the vehicles and can even detect whether officials are dropping their kids off at school in the work car.

Links and Sources
Southern Metropolis Daily: 广州公车停在娱乐场所可自动发预警
Economic Observer Online: Chinese Cities Turn to GPS Technology to Limit Personal Use of Government Cars