The Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, recently held direct talks with the principal officials of eight poverty-stricken counties, and urged them to stop wasting money on vanity projects. Beijing News comments:

The most noteworthy exposure by the Poverty Alleviation Office is the case of the Rucheng county government in Hunan province, which spent nearly 50 million yuan ($7.3 million) to build a city square to enhance its image, even though its debt ratio had hit 336 percent by the end of last year.

Thanks to the central government's rigorous supervision, the misuse of poverty alleviation funds has been controlled. Yet the local governments still enjoy considerable autonomy in borrowing money, and they can always invent new excuses to postpone the payment.

That explains why the Rucheng county government has had the audacity to spend the money on vanity projects that are taboos even for the local governments in better-off regions. The central authorities attach great importance to controlling government debt. By the end of last year, the government debt ratio in China was 36.2 percent, markedly lower than the international red line of 60 percent. Which means the Rucheng county government has set a bad example of abuse of power, which has raised its debts, instead of taking effective measures to alleviate poverty and improve people's livelihoods.

The county officials' action has prompted the central authorities to closely scrutinize all impoverished counties' poverty alleviation funds. If the central authorities do not take such steps, counties such as Rucheng will not be able to fulfill their poverty-alleviation responsibilities because of mounting debts. And there is no reason why the central authorities should use "lower standards" to assess the economic and social performance of poverty-stricken counties.

The other local governments must learn a lesson from the Rucheng case, and make sure every penny of the poverty alleviation fund goes to the needy people.