Fake bureaucrat takes China authorities for ride

BEIJING (AFP) - Authorities in China are hunting a man who posed as a high-ranking government official and took part in all-expenses-paid junkets for years despite not holding the post, local media reported.

Middle-aged, clearly well-fed, and clad in the black suits beloved of Chinese bureaucrats, Mr Zhao Xiyong posed as an official from the State Council, China's cabinet, touring factories and local governments, with free banquets thrown in.

But authorities in southern China's Yunnan province, where Mr Zhao conducted most of his tours, apparently got wise to his deception, which apparently lasted over two years, and branded him an "imposter" on social media sites.

"Someone called Zhao Xiyong posed as the head of a State Council Research Office... made inspection tours and gave speeches," a local government office in Yunnan wrote on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter.