每日英语：Austerity On Display At China Congress

Xu Jiayin, a Chinese property tycoon, made headlines last year when he was spotted wearing a signature Herm's belt while attending a meeting of advisers to the National People's Congress, China's parliament.

austerity：紧缩，朴素，严厉　　　　property tycoon：房地产巨头　　　　signature：署名，签名

parliament：议会，国会　　　　

The belt, with an H-shaped gold-plated buckle, sells for as much as 6,000 yuan ($952) in China a hefty price tag that earned Mr. Xu the nickname of 'Brother Belt' on Chinese social networks. It also helped trigger a public outcry over lavish spending by government officials and the private businesspeople who advise them as part of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which meets alongside the parliament session.

hefty：强壮的，非常　　　　lavish：浪费的，大方的，丰富的　　　　

This year, Mr. Xu went down-market with a local-brand belt called Sept-Wolves, which cost as little as a few hundred yuan.

down-market：低档商品的　　　　

Mr. Xu is not alone. Throughout the two-week gathering of what is called the 'Two Meetings' that started on March 3, nearly 3,000 delegates from all over the country from government officials to corporate titans and celebrities have been at pains to answer the call for simplicity and frugality by the new Communist Party leadership, headed by Xi Jinping.

frugality：节省，节俭　　　　

Doo Wai-hoi, a prominent Hong Kong businessman and a delegate to the consultative body, said meals are simpler affairs this year. He noted the cancellation of a fixture of past such gatherings: a dinner banquet for the delegates from Hong Kong and Macau at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where Chinese leaders often meet and dine with visiting heads of states.

'This year, it's all family-style meals. No shark's fin or any of those fancy dishes,' said Mr. Doo, deputy chairman of NWS Holdings Ltd., 0659.HK -7.86% a Hong Kong conglomerate. He added that the new frugality drive is bringing the mainland Chinese government 'closer to Hong Kong,' a former British colony and now a special administrative region of China that frowns on extravagant wining and dining by government officials.

conglomerate：联合大企业　　　　extravagant：奢侈的，浪费的，过度的

Comedian Gong Hanlin, also an adviser to parliament, pointed to the fact that all delegates this year have been encouraged to take shuttle buses instead of private cars to and from meetings. 'You don't see as many motorcades as in the past,' he said.

motorcades：警车开道，队列

Mr. Gong also applauded the way some of his celebrity peers dressed down for this year's event. 'It shows that you are here to represent the man on the street,' said Mr. Gong, who was wearing a high-collared traditional Chinese suit to meetings at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Tuesday.

Mr. Xi launched the frugality campaign in December as part of a broader effort to repair the party's image, which has been badly damaged by a string of corruption scandals reaching to its very top levels. In particular, the Chinese public has been outraged by the extravagant lifestyles of so-called 'princelings,' sons and daughters of top leaders.

outraged：义愤填膺的，愤怒的　　　　

At a March 4 media briefing, NPC spokeswoman Fu Ying touted the government's efforts, and pointed out the absence of such features as lavish flower arrangements. 'We have strictly controlled the expenditure on this year's session,' Ms. Fu said. 'We have also decorated the conference venues in a simple and environment-friendly way instead of using extravagant decoration materials.'

expenditure：支出，花费　　　　venue：场地，场所　　　　

The government's austerity campaign has won some applause from ordinary Chinese, who have grown cynical of efforts by the party to police its own members.

cynical：愤世嫉俗的，冷嘲的　　　　

'It's not that he can't wear Western brands,' said Nai Shiliang, a Beijing taxi driver, while listening to a radio report about the toned-down fashion choice by Mr. Xu, the property tycoon. 'It's this occasion. It should be about representing us, the ordinary folks, not about flaunting your own wealth.'

toned-down：减轻了的，缓和了的　　　　flaunt：炫耀，夸奖　　　　

Mr. Xu couldn't be reached for comment. Officials at Mr. Xu's company, the Evergrande Group, declined to comment.

Han Hong, a famous army singer, also went for the conservative look as a government adviser. Ms. Han, who couldn't be reached for comment, ditched the Bottega Veneta handbag she was seen carrying at last year's meeting for a plastic folder. The Defense Ministry didn't respond to a request for comment.

On the other hand, Beijing's austerity drive is starting to pinch the bottom line of businesses, especially high-end retailers that have traditionally thrived on gift-giving to officials.

pinch：挤压，节省，拧　　　　

In the glitzy Sanlitun shopping and entertainment district, a Rolex store owned by a local sales agent for the Swiss brand was closed recently. A handwritten sign hanging on the glass door offered a phone number for enquiries.

glitzy：炫目的，耀眼的　　　　

'We're closing down the store because of lackluster sales,' said an employee who answered the phone, giving only her surname, Huang. Rolex SA declined to comment.

lackluster：无光泽的，黯淡　　　　

Even before the Two Meetings, upscale restaurants in Beijing were feeling the pinch: revenues were down by 35% in January from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the Commerce Ministry.

High-end business travel is also declining. Since December, the number of business travelers on first- and business-class trips has dropped by about 10% from a year earlier, according to an official at China's Civil Aviation Administration. The fall comes amid a surge in overall air travel. Data from the Transport Ministry show that the number of airplane trips rose 18% during this year's Lunar New Year period compared with last year's.

high-end：高端的，高档的　　　　

The frugality drive is unlikely to seriously dent China's efforts to boost consumption, with effects mostly seen at the very high end of consumption. Retail sales grew in the first two months of 2013, though at the slowest pace 12.3% since 2004 for the period, which includes the Lunar New Year.

'Consumption demand stayed resilient in China＃ but sales growth of some luxury items for gift-giving and revenue at high-end restaurants could be hit by the government's frugality campaign,' said Lu Ting, an economist at Bank of America BAC +0.41% Merrill Lynch.

resilient：有弹性的　　　　

Much of the public griping about lavish spending by government officials can be traced back to the meeting sessions last year when Li Xiaolin, daughter of former Premier Li Peng, was photographed at the advisory body wearing a salmon pantsuit from Emilio Pucci's spring-summer 2012 collection and a Chanel necklace.

That image of Ms. Li, head of China Power International Development Ltd., 2380.HK +3.31% one of China's largest power generators, drew fierce public criticism. One user of Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, commented in a post at the time that the cost of Ms. Li's suit alone estimated at 12,000 yuan 'could help 200 children wear warm clothes, and avoid the chilly attacks of winter.'

chilly：寒冷的　　　　

Ms. Li couldn't be reached for comment. Officials at China Power International declined to comment. At this year's meeting, Ms. Li was spotted in a picture wearing a black blazer. It was unclear whether her clothes were expensive or of a particular designer brand.

One Weibo user said Ms. Li looked 'a bit more low-key this year but still elegant.'