Beijing, July 20: China's new leadership has cancelled the annual Beidaihe retreat in an apparent bid to set an example of thrift and shore up public support at a time when the country is recovering from the impact of SARS. "This year annual beidaihe retreat is off," Chinese sources said, adding that top leaders would be present in Beijing during this year's summer season.
However, the decision would not affect retired Communist Party and military generals who use the sea-side resort for convalescence. Till this year, it has been a tradition started by 'chairman' Mao Zedong, who let leaders discuss political strategy in a relaxed environment at Beidaihe, which is situated 280 km east of Beijing.
Thus, Chinese leaders used to gather each summer at Beidaihe to escape the heat and meet informally and discuss party affairs and government polices. The secret party sessions used to generate a lot of speculation in the diplomatic circles as well as in Hong Kong and Western media.
But this year, with a younger generation of Communist Party leadership under President and party general secretary Hu Jintao decided that instead of combining vacation and business, they would carry out their duties here.
Analysts said the cancellation reflected the new leadership's stand on spending public money.
"The new leadership hopes to build up a prudent and down-to-earth image, in order to win support from a more open-minded population," a Hong Kong based newspaper reported. Bureau Report