介绍:
China's state-asset watchdog has ordered the country's three telecom giants-- China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom-- to shut down their VIP lounges in airports and railway stations across the nation by September 30.
The move is aimed at cutting the three companies' marketing expenses.
There are currently hundreds of VIP lounges located in airports and at railway stations across the nation which are owned by the three companies and cost hundreds of millions of yuan every year.
(QD) Media analyst Zhou Junsheng says on bjnews.com.cn,
It's an important move in China's anti-corruption campaign. State-owned enterprises occupy so much of China's resources of all kinds but waste such a huge amount of money every year on VIP lounges. They should have led a more frugal life and used the money better serving all their customers, not only those VIPs.
(JA) Gu Dening, a reporter, agrees on his weibo account,
Apart from containing extravagance, closing the lounges will gradually take Chinese companies out of their "VIP obsession." Offering VIP services not only brings about corruption and social injustice, but also hurts ordinary customers.
(LK) Yun Zhonghe supports the government order on ifeng.com,
I believe this move is just a beginning of China's anti-corruption campaign against VIP lounges. In fact the rooms owned by the three telecom giants only represent a small portion of all kinds of VIP rooms across the nation. There're far more of them that need to be wiped out, especially those specially serving governmental officials. But it's a good start anyhow.
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Notes:
-- VIP lounges in China's airport and railway stations target middle- and high-end clients, usually offering drinks, snacks, papers and magazines, Internet access and help with boarding procedures.
-- The three companies' VIP lounges mainly serve middle- and high-end users who usually have been granted lounge privileges through loyalty marketing promotions based on mobile phone usage, data usage, and monthly spend.
-- The three telecom giants have received a notice from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council to cut their marketing expenses by 20% and the expenses need to be decreased over three consecutive years. For China Mobile alone, the reduced marketing expense is approximately CNY20 billion over the three years; and the total reduced amount of the three companies is about CNY40 billion.
-- One VIP lounge at the Beijing Capital International Airport reportedly costs CNY4 million to CNY5 million every year; while one airport VIP lounge in a medium-sized Chinese city costs about CNY1 million to maintain every year.
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(QD) But Ma Jinghao, a financial expert, expresses a different point of view on xinhuanet.com,
VIP lounges that mainly serve government officials should definitely be closed, which is an abuse of administrative power. But lounges providing services to real VIP clients, like those belonging to the three telecom giants, it should be left to the market to decide whether they should be shut down or not. It's not what the government should intervene in.
(JA) Ma Yingbing, vice president of a software company, protests on english.news.cn,
How can it be linked with extravagance if we gain VIP qualification through spending? I frequently travel around the world and I need a VIP lounge to provide me with a comfortable environment to finish my work anytime anywhere.
(LK) And on hzdaily.hangzhou.com.cn, Ying Dan raises her doubt on the effectiveness of this order,
Clearing hundreds of VIP lounges within one month and a half? The time is much too tight. I don't believe the three enterprises can complete this "task" in time. Furthermore, they'd best notify all of their current VIPs of this decision to avoid the inconvenience brought by the order to their business trips.
