(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-20 18:32

ZHENGZHOU - Alcohol producers in Henan province have retained a lawyer to appeal a controversial government document that bans officials from drinking alcohol at lunch during work days.

Kang Yinzhong, a lawyer retained by the Henan Alcohol Association, said that drinking was a private affair and holding public office shouldn't keep someone from consuming alcohol as long as it did not affect their work.

The ban began in January 2007 in Xinyang City, Henan Province. Soon, other cities in the central province such as Shangqiu, Kaifeng and Luohe followed suit.

Local restaurants, which get a big part of their business from alcohol sales, saw fewer lunch customers and less revenue as a result of the ban.

"Since the ban took effect, I have fallen into the habit of not drinking at midday on work days," a local official eating at a restaurant said.

The owner of the restaurant said that business at midday was not as prosperous as before and that only in the evening did it become a bit better.

Kang said that the public servants law does not stipulate directly that government workers are not allowed to drink alcohol at midday.

He said he was collecting opinions of liquor companies and would submit them to the provincial legislature demanding a revision or end to the ban.

Wang Tie, the Communist Party chief of Xinyang, initiated the ban and said that he stood behind it. It had reduced expenses and was good for officials' health, he said.

In the first half of last year, the city saved 43 million yuan (about US$ 6 million) because of the ban, Wang said.

That amount is almost equivalent to a small county's annual revenues.

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