It takes courage to suggest a ban on official tippling of Moutai – China’s most luxurious liquor – right before Chinese New Year. This is the season of official banquets, ahead of a week-long public holiday to celebrate the lunar new year, or spring festival.

But this is also the week when a Shanghai legislator suggested prohibiting moutai at such banquets, in response to public criticism.

Shen Haixiong, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress (aka legislature), says drinking the stuff at an official banquet is “an abuse of public funds”. The fact that Shen is also editor in chief of Xinhua news agency’s Shanghai branch makes the suggestion even more unusual, since journalists the world over are seldom famed for their teetotal tendencies.