A local government's preferential policy to court investors inspired much criticism after it was revealed recently. 
Investors who invest more than 50 million yuan (US$6.4 million) in Qinyang, Henan Province in Central China, are granted the laurel of "honorary citizens." 
According to a regulation issued by the Qinyang city government in 2004, the "honorary citizens" and their relatives are given a series of privileges. 
They will not be fined after being caught for traffic violations. They don't need to go through security checks before entering entertainment venues. They don't need to buy tickets to enter places of interest. They are given a half discount on medical fees, and their children get priority in the schools they pick. 
The policy has been effective, attracting billions of yuan worth of investment in the past three years. More than 60 people became "honorary citizens." 
But the policy caused a nationwide uproar when media exposed it in September.
The situation culminated when the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council, which supervises local laws and regulations, intervened in December.
The regulation and the more than 60 "honorary citizens" certificates were revoked, and the investigation is continuing into who was responsible and why.
"This case shows that local officials lack the awareness to govern and administer in compliance with law; some of the contents of the regulation are obviously against the law," said Jiang Ling, deputy director-general of the legal affairs coordination department under the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council.
"The red tape document may have brought a benefit to the development of the local economy, but meanwhile, it discarded the other, more important, social value: It damaged the legal concept of equal protection and destroyed the foundation of a healthy, stable society," according to Ye Lin, professor at Renmin University in Beijing.
"A local government simply created a 'virtual settlement' within its precinct, in which the rich were above the law. It is appalling to see the local officials' ignorance of basic law," said Zhou Rongguang, a public servant in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province.
"Our original intention was to promote and create an atmosphere respecting and caring for investors. These preferential policies were designed to confer social status on investors.” 
"Our regulation was a flexibility within the law; it didn't circumvent it," explained Guo Ruxing, director of the Commerce and Trade Bureau of Qinyang, quoted by the Legal Evening News. 
"If the law could be arbitrarily revised with a double standard for investors and common people, it also means these privileges could be arbitrarily deprived in the future. Rather than create a sound investment environment where investors can have adequate legal protection, the local government just proves how bad its environment could be with these ridiculous regulations," said Chu Yang, commentator with Life Daily, based in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China.