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Special supply system of China

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The special supply system of the People's Republic of China, called tegong, is a system organized by the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to provide specific supplies and living services to government officials and special individuals. Senior officials can enjoy such special treatment for life. This system was established in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, officially implemented by the central government, and has been maintained to this day.

History

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Early years

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After the Chinese Communist Party established the People's Republic of China in 1949, the General Office of the CCP Central Committee and the Ministry of Public Security decided to establish Xiangshan Farm (now called Jushan Farm) in Beijing.[1] On February 14, 1950, the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union signed the 30-year Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Subsequently, the Soviet Union sent two experts in health care and food nutrition research to Beijing and made many suggestions on the products, scale, preservation, disinfection, testing and epidemic prevention of Xiangshan Farm. Xiangshan Farm was managed by the Security Bureau of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee and provided special agricultural products for senior cadres, establishing a special food supply system for central leaders. The special supply system originated in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. For example, the predecessor of Zhongnanhai cigarettes was the No. 2 special supply cigarette selected by Mao Zedong, and Maotai liquor in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China was a special supply liquor that only provincial departments could obtain.[2]

During the Great Chinese Famine, on July 30, 1960, Qi Yanming, then Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council, drafted a report on the issue of providing preferential treatment to senior cadres and senior intellectuals in Beijing in terms of the supply of non-staple food. On August 1, the General Office of the CCP Central Committee agreed to the content of the report and sent it to various central ministries, the National People's Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other organs and units. On November 9, when the CCP Central Committee distributed the report to all regions of the country, it changed the phrase "providing preferential treatment in terms of the supply of non-staple food" to "special supply" and believed that the report was also applicable to all regions of the country in principle. From then on, a unified national special supply system for senior cadres was established.[3][4][5][6][7] The following are some people's memories of special supply during the famine.

  • Senior official Wei Junyi recalled the special food supplies during the three difficult years: "Later, the central government finally decided to implement a food subsidy for cadres. This was probably because some elderly democratic figures could not bear such hardships and some had already fallen ill. The subsidy was one pound of sugar and one pound of beans per month for each person above level 17, two pounds of meat and two pounds of eggs per month for each person above level 13, and four pounds of meat and two pounds of eggs per month for each person above level 9."[8]
  • Wang Feng, then secretary of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote an investigation report to Mao Zedong: From April 27 to 29, 1961, Comrade Wang Feng led five people to investigate rural canteens in the Xinji Commune No. 1 Production Brigade in Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province, and conducted in-depth research on women's diseases and women's fertility. They found that during the three years of the Gansu Great Famine, relatively rare women's diseases such as uterine prolapse and amenorrhea appeared in rural areas. Uterine prolapse was caused by malnutrition caused by hunger and excessive physical labor, and excessive hunger caused amenorrhea. Only the wives of cadres had normal menstruation.[9]
  • Cheng Dan, daughter of Cheng Qian, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, recalled in an interview with the National Humanities and History magazine: " Even during the difficult times, the supply in Beidaihe was always good."[10]
  • When recalling the three difficult years, historian Wang Zengyu said that he felt angry when he saw the fat belly of the high- ranking president of Peking University.[11]  In addition, "in the cold winter, when the north wind was howling all day long, there were deaths every other day in the village. Most of the dead were elderly people, who had actually caught colds from hunger and cold, and then became incurable diseases."[12]

Thereafter, against the backdrop of a long-term shortage of materials in Chinese society and a shortage of food and daily necessities for the general public, the scope of special supplies expanded to include tobacco, alcohol, and clothing. For example, the items specially supplied to Mao Zedong personally included "Mao porcelain" from Liling, Hunan, and "7501 Mao porcelain" from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi.[13][14][15][16]

After the reform and opening ip

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After the reform and opening up, on November 13, 1979, the "CCP Central Committee and the State Council’s Several Regulations on the Living Allowances of Senior Cadres" was issued, which stated that senior cadres should pay for their own water and electricity bills. If public and private use are mixed and it is not possible to install separate electricity and water meters, the expenses should be reasonably shared in proportion to the actual consumption of water and electricity.[17][18] In July 1989, the Politburo meeting document "The CCP Central Committee and the State Council’s Decision on Doing Several Things of Public Concern in the Near Future" called for the cancellation of special food supplies, but this was not implemented.[19]

In 2004, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued an "Emergency Notice on Strictly Prohibiting the Use of the Name of State Organs in Commercial Advertisements" to crack down on operators who hyped up the concepts of special supply and exclusive supply, especially the use of packaging and labels containing the words "special supply by state organs".[2] In the following period, the rectification was basically carried out every one or two years, but the effect was not very ideal. In 2007, Ren Yuling, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a consultant to the State Council, proposed to reform the lifetime system of treatment for senior cadres, but received no response.[17][18]

In March 2013, the State Administration of Civil Service and five other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Strictly Prohibiting the Central and State Organs from Using Labels Such as "Special Supply" and "Special Supply"".[20] On November 28, the CCP Central Committee and the State Council again issued the "Several Provisions on the Living Benefits of Senior Officials", but failed to solve the problem of privilege.[17][18] On November 29, the State Food and Drug Administration required all regions to prohibit the production of liquor with labels such as "special supply", "special supply", "special use", "specially made", and "special demand".[21]

In 2022, the General Logistics Department of the Central Military Commission and five other departments jointly issued a "Notice on Prohibition of the Sale of Military-Branded Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Products".[22]

Special supply system and food safety

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Further information: 2008 Chinese milk scandal

Some believe that the special food supply system is one of the reasons for the frequent occurrence of food safety problems in China.[3][23][24][25] Officials who enjoy special food supplies are precisely those who have supervisory duties, or officials who have the duty to urge supervisory officials to exercise their powers in accordance with the law. However, because they enjoy special food supplies, they will not be motivated to investigate and punish illegal vendors.[3] In 2011, Chinese writer Zhao Lihua said that abolishing special food supplies can fundamentally solve China's food safety problems. She believes that "the privileged class eats well, but does not care whether the common people eat well. If the special food supply is abolished nationwide, those privileged people will have to go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables like everyone else. In this way, they will consider the health and safety of themselves, their children, and their descendants."[25]

On the other hand, there is also the problem of "fake special supply" in the market. With the continuous development of the market economy, any product with a little reputation has been labeled as special supply or exclusive supply.[2] The products involved have also expanded from tobacco and alcohol to tea, beverages, food and even other daily necessities. In the field of counterfeiting so-called "special supply wine", a complete criminal chain has been formed, including packaging production, filling, and sales. It is sold through direct telephone sales, online live broadcasts, and mixed with military supplies. The counterfeited wines include brands such as Wuliangye and Moutai. The claimed special supply forms include so-called special wines for commemorative activities and special wines for the military. The raw materials of these counterfeit wines can be divided into using low-end wines as good ones and using alcohol and flavors to blend according to needs and selling prices.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "中央首长食品特供制是怎样建立的". 半岛网 (in Chinese). 《今晚报》. 2011-09-19. Archived from the original on 2015-10-05.
  2. ^ a b c 王延辉 (2012年). "假特供的真问题". 人民网 (in Chinese). 《环球人物》. Archived from the original on 2024-05-22.
  3. ^ a b c 陈娟 (2011-07-11). "取消"特供"食品安全才有保障". 新浪 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2025-02-19.
  4. ^ "中央首长食品特供制是怎样建立的". 半岛网 (in Chinese). 《今晚报》. 2011-09-19. Archived from the original on 2015-10-05.
  5. ^ "中共中央转发齐燕铭关于对在京高级干部和高级知识分子特需供应的报告的指示". 中国经济网 (in Chinese). 新华网. 2007-06-11. Archived from the original on 2024-08-13.
  6. ^ "三年困难时期的特殊解饿法：康复粉和人造肉". 凤凰网 (in Chinese). 《中国生活记忆》（中国轻工业出版社）. 2009-10-23. Archived from the original on 2017-08-06.
  7. ^ 邸延生 (2013-12-18). "揭秘三年困难时期中央对高干们的食品特殊供应". 凤凰网 (in Chinese). 《“文革”前夜的毛泽东》 （新华出版社）. Archived from the original on 2014-08-15.
  8. ^ 韦君宜 (2014-05-04). "高干忆三年困难时期特供：民众恨极了编顺口溜" (in Chinese). 搜狐. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09.
  9. ^ 赵继 (2014-05-09). "甘肃大饥荒后调查：三年里农村只有干部妻子经期正常". 凤凰网 (in Chinese). 甘肃省陇南市政协网. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09.
  10. ^ 程丹; 纪彭 (2014-10-15). "程潜的女儿程丹：高干子女的海滩生活". 人民网 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2015-03-30.
  11. ^ 王曾瑜 (2015-01-06). "老北大忆三年困难时期：看校长脂肪丰富的腹部就来气". 凤凰网 (in Chinese). 正北方网. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09.
  12. ^ 王曾瑜 (2015-01-06). "博导忆三年困难时期调研：村支书称民国口粮比现在多". 正北方网 (in Chinese). 凤凰网. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09.
  13. ^ "神秘毛主席用瓷存世量稀少 价格20年翻百倍(图)". 新浪 (in Chinese). 《北京商报》. 2014-04-16. Archived from the original on 2025-02-20.
  14. ^ 張東 (2011-05-19). "中國的「特供」制度批判（之三）". 《中國人權雙週刊》. No. 第52期. Archived from the original on 2017-09-16.
  15. ^ "收藏中国之"7501毛瓷"故事——毛泽东专用瓷（组图）【6】". 人民网 (in Chinese). 国际在线. 2013-03-08. Archived from the original on 2013-05-29.
  16. ^ "文摘：毛主席用過的瓷器，講究". 《法制博覽》. No. 第11期. 2011年. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07.
  17. ^ a b c 小山 (2020-05-08). "废除中共高干待遇终身制话题此刻被重提". 法国国际广播电台. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16.
  18. ^ a b c 申华 (2020-05-07). ""两会"前夕 废除中共高干待遇终身制话题被重提". 美国之音 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2022-04-24.
  19. ^ "官员"因公出国"的秘密". 南报网 (in Chinese). 《南方周末》. 2012-05-08. Archived from the original on 2013-04-24.
  20. ^ "关于严禁中央和国家机关使用"特供""专供"等标识的通知". 中华人民共和国中央人民政府. 2013-03-29. Archived from the original on 2023-10-27.
  21. ^ "食品药品监管总局要求各地加强白酒质量安全监管". 中华人民共和国中央人民政府 (in Chinese). 新华社. 2013-11-29. Archived from the original on 2025-03-20.
  22. ^ "国防部：军队的正面形象不能成为个别商家的赚钱工具". 中华人民共和国国防部 (in Chinese). 2022-07-28. Archived from the original on 2024-09-18.
  23. ^ 王静 (2016年). "论公民绿色食物获取权". 中国知网 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-08-15.
  24. ^ 乔志峰 (2011-07-25). 洪涛三 (ed.). "特供制度已成为中国食品安全乱相的万恶之源". 红网 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2015-10-06.
  25. ^ a b "作家稱取消特供食品才能根治食品安全問題". 新浪 (in Chinese). 《國際先驅導報》. 2011-07-01. Archived from the original on 2019-08-12.
  26. ^ ""特供酒"全是"特假酒"——"特供酒"调查之一". 新华网 (in Chinese). 2024-09-25. Archived from the original on 2025-01-26.
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