China says it is no longer a crime to play golf

China has declared it is no longer a crime to play the "hedonistic" game of golf.

In October 2015, the Communist Party banned all 88 million of its members from joining golf clubs as part of an anti-corruption campaign.

Members were banned from “obtaining, holding or using membership cards for gyms, clubs, golf clubs, or various other types of consumer cards, or entering private clubs

Banned by Mao Zedong — who despised the “sport for millionaires” — golf enjoyed a renaissance during the 80s and 90s only to be outlawed for the party’s 85 million members in 2015 as a result of president Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive.

Party-controlled media have painted China’s golf courses as cauldrons of profiteering where the palms of rotten officials are greased by favour-seeking business people.

Now, the official newspaper for the China's Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, says the ruling Communist Party has had a change of heart and decided “playing golf itself is not wrongdoing” provided officials “pay out of their own pockets”

The number of people who play in golf in the country range from the hundreds of thousands to well over a million.

Although there are no Chinese male golfers in the official world top 50 rankings, ShanShan Feng is currently ranked number 11 in the women’s game