Online shopping provides way round China’s ban on giving gifts

September 22, 2013 Leave a comment

Online shopping provides way round China’s ban on giving gifts

Hsieh Ai-chu and Staff Reporter

2013-09-21

Buying gifts through online shopping was popular in China during this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival as the country’s government prohibited the use of public funds to be spent on festival gifts. People’s Daily reported that the volume of gifts purchased with government money was down compared to previous years. Yet the practice, linked to the culture of giving face in order to consolidate influential relationships could not be fully curtailed as gift givers found ways to present their gifts in a more discreet manner.The online marketplace was such a way, as people purchasing gifts did not have to handle gifts or send items themselves.

The Chinese-language Beijing News reported that bypassing prohibitions on gifts was evident as many employees of express delivery companies were spotted in front of three government buildings in Beijing.

The report said gift-giving remains prevalent since building and maintaining personal connections is deeply ingrained in Chinese society, especially within government agencies.

Among the most popular gifts were Chinese mitten crabs from Yangcheng Lake in Jiangsu, a seasonal delicacy, as well as mooncakes and electronic gift cards. Some givers opted for electronic gift vouchers and sending account passwords to activate them.

Some e-commerce outlets meanwhile were happy to provide falsified invoices, according to reports.

Gifting cell phone credit was also a convenient means of offering an untraceable present.

Zhang Bin, a director at the Chinese Academy of Social Science, suggested the government promote the use of electronic invoices to enable tax departments and government agencies to perform cross comparisons on the content and prices of purchases to tighten the net on the practice.

Filed under Macro Trends

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