Four Chinese officials have been sacked after it emerged some of them were enjoying a sumptuous banquet as a New Year's Eve stampede killed 36 people.

Seven others have been disciplined over the tragedy on Shanghai's riverfront Bund area, which happened at about 11.30pm after a popular annual light show had been cancelled.

District Communist Party secretary Zhou Wei and government chief Peng Song were among those who reportedly dined for free at Japanese restaurant Utsusemi, where dinners can cost around €500 a head.

The company that owns the restaurant is involved in the property sector and has strong ties with Shanghai officials.

It was reported the restaurant ran a scheme which allowed officials to sign for meals that are then claimed for from the public purse.

The city government said the meal - in which officials had sushi and noodles washed down with Japanese sake - broke the Communist Party's frugality rules.

Shanghai deputy major Zhou Bo said the city sent its "deepest condolences" and "deepest apologies" to families of the victims.

"The incident of December 31 should not have happened and was totally avoidable," Mr Zhou said at a news conference. "We feel very pained, guilty and responsible for this."

Investigation

An investigation into the stampede found there had been insufficient preparations on the riverfront and authorities had been too slow to respond once the stampede happened.

Relatives of the victims have criticised the Shanghai government for reacting slowly, accusing it of withholding information and trying to stop families talking to the media.

City-level officials have escaped relatively unscathed and, asked why more senior city officials and police were not being made to take responsibility, senior officials said China's law on emergencies meant the Huangpu district government was mainly to blame.

On Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, one user said the officials had "become scapegoats".

"Such a large scale event, surely the city government should have been responsible. It’s like kicking a ball, just push everything to the local district government, that’s easier," the user wrote.

Another comment said: "Chinese people's lives are so cheap! Disciplined, and that's it! This is so called socialism?!"

Shanghai has cancelled a series of events since the disaster, including annual Lantern Festival celebrations.