China’s Communist Party draws ‘red line’ on virtual Lunar New Year cash gifts for cadres

China’s Communist Party has warned cadres against accepting digital “red packets” as cash gifts for the Lunar New Year, raising bribery concerns amid a renewed pledge to fight corruption.

Accepting or giving virtual presents that might affect the fair performance of official duties could be seen as violating “red lines” in party discipline, the Central Organisation Department – the party’s top personnel office – said in an article on its website on Thursday.

The article also explicitly warned against gambling or indirectly accepting bribes in the form of virtual red packets on the WeChat platform.

The warnings come just ahead of China’s eight-day Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on January 28 this year.

Cadres should also remind members of their family to be careful about accepting virtual red packets, the article said.

The red packet feature allows WeChat users to give away virtual money to a single contact or chat groups, to be cashed through the application. The popular social media platform has more than 1 billion monthly active users that rely on it for both personal and professional networking.

China’s ruling party has tightened its disciplinary rules in recent years to remove those deemed incompetent or lacking in loyalty, as it seeks deeper control over the conduct of its nearly 100 million members.