Chinese City Pressures Civil Servants to Fill Tourism Events Amid Weak Economy

Residential buildings under construction at Evergrande Cultural Tourism City, a project developed by China Evergrande Group, in Suzhou’s Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China, on Sept. 23, 2021. Aly Song/ReutersAs China’s local governments scramble to revive weak consumer spending and boost tourism-driven growth, officials in one northeastern city are pressuring civil servants and even outsourced workers to attend state-organized cultural and tourism events—sometimes ordering entire departments to send participants.According to internal notices and messages obtained by The Epoch Times, government agencies in the city of Fushun, Liaoning Province, recently called on public-sector employees and their families to participate in a series of local tourism promotion events. The activities included hiking events, sightseeing campaigns, and organized attendance at sports competitions.