China's new leaders ban red carpets, pomp and 'empty speeches' China's new leaders have promised a dramatic overhaul of how the Communist party behaves, responding to growing public criticism of imperious and lavishly rich officials. By Malcolm Moore, Beijing6:45PM GMT 04 Dec 2012 Party leaders will no longer be greeted wherever they go with cheering crowds, banners, red carpets and elaborate flower displays, said a statement on Chinese state media after a meeting of the new 25-man Politburo. The updated rules also ban dull, long speeches and fawning write-ups in the state newspapers, as the party tries to reshape its image. Li Keqiang, who will become prime minister in March, and Wang Qishan, the new anti-corruption chief, have also held meetings in which they banned participants from making grandstanding speeches. In a seminar last Friday, Mr Wang interrupted professors to stop them addressing him as "respected secretary Wang". The new rules also stipulate that leaders should no longer show up for ribbon-cutting ceremonies, groundbreakings or any other self-aggrandising events, exhibitions or forums. Official motorcades will no longer play havoc with traffic as road closures are minimised. Yao Bo, a former leader writer with the China Daily and now an entrepreneur with over 650,000 followers on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, said he felt the new leaders "are paying significantly more attention to outside voices". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-ban-red-carpets-pomp-and-empty-speeches.html But Obama loves his parties