Several high-end restaurants in Zhejiang province have seen booking cancellations from local government departments, at a time that used to be peak season for official banquets to celebrate the New Year, local newspaper Xiandai Jinbao reported.

The cancellations resulted from the new rules released by the central government to combat corruption by banning luxury banquets, the report said.

Some government officials in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, said that, under the new rules, their guests will now eat in government canteens instead of high-end restaurants.

The report said that high-end restaurants will suffer economic losses as government departments are their main clients.

Those restaurants now need to search for new customers and upgrade their services to boost business, said Wu Tingyu, dean of the liberal arts school of the Ningbo University of Technology.

wangwen@chinadaily.com.cn