CPC's key congress to be no-frills event

China's ruling Communist Party's upcoming congress will be a frugal affair lacking thrills, frills and luxury dinners, keeping up with the austerity campaign of President Xi Jinping who is set for a second term.
The move to stay away from expensive and extravagant arrangements was announced by Wang Lilian, an official from a works committee under the party's powerful Central Committee.
Since coming to power, Xi has been keen to promote thriftiness and conducted a massive anti-graft campaign.
There will be no plump prawns and succulent sea cucumbers from the dinner and lunch menus. Not that delegates to the congress will go hungry, Wang said, adding that instead of banquets they can expect buffets.

"The restaurants will cater for the different tastes of people from different parts of the country," he said.
But rather than being flashy, they will feature dishes that are more reminiscent of home cooking.

"There won't be any sea cucumbers or prawns," he said, but each buffet will include eight hot dishes and eight cold dishes, as well as rice, bread and noodles, the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post quoted him as saying.
The 19th National Congress of the CPC will be held in Beijing opening on October 18.
The congress to confer a second term to Xi opens on Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. It will be attended by about 2,287 delegates from across the country and its primary order of business will be to elect the nation's top leadership for the next five years.

"From [all these measures] we can see that the eight- point regulation is being fully implemented. Although we don't have [luxury] services this time, the overall spirit of our staff has significantly improved," Wang said.