Authorities are investigating after a deputy county chief in Laiban city, Guangxi province died of alcohol poisoning after lunching with colleagues on his first day on the job, CNS reports.
Zhong Xiefei, who was the newly appointed deputy chief of Qianjiang township, attended a banquet lunch with several other provincial and county-level officials on April 9, where they all drank rice wine excessively.
Zhong's family found him asleep and snoring loudly later that evening. But by 6am the next day, he was found dead of alcohol poisoning.
Seven of the officials he dined with have been arrested for excessive drinking, while district officials met on Monday to discuss how to deal with the incident.
Despite President Xi Jinping's efforts to curtail the improper behaviour, excessive drinking at official banquets remains customary in China.
There is a general feeling among many professionals that drinking excessively in front of bosses will lead to more favourable treatment and even promotions. The practice has led to several incidents of alcohol poisoning over the years.
In December 2013, a teaching official died in Sichuan province after drinking heavily with colleagues during school lunchtime.
In January this year, it was revealed that an employer in Zhejiang province has based his employees' bonuses on how much they could drink. Men were paid 500 yuan ($82) for a shot of liquor, 200 yuan ($33) for a glass of red wine and 100 yuan ($16) for a beer, while women were paid double.
However, a recent study found that the number of official banquets has fallen sharply, with county-level officials attending an average of 12.2 banquets per week in 2013, compared with 18 per week in 2012. Zhang Zhongliang from the National Bureau of Statistics pointed to Xi's austerity campaign as having "set officials free" from attending such events.
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