国内英语新闻:Central gov't cuts travel, vehicles, receptions budget

MOF will strictly control the scale of the "three public consumptions" budget to make sure the central government's spending on the items keep declining, the official added.

Most provincial-level governments have also slashed their budgets on official vehicles, banquets and overseas trips amid the frugality campaign.

Government spending in these areas has long been a hotly-debated issue among the public because of reports about misuse of public money.

The central government first published the figures of spending on the three items in 2011 and has been increasing transparency ever since.

Zhang Bin, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed to the publication of more detailed spending on government vehicles as an example of the enhanced transparency.

Previously, the MOF published figures on official vehicles' purchase and maintenance spending as a whole. This year, spending on purchase and maintenance were published separately.

Zhang hailed the new practice as an indication of greater budget transparency, saying this would help the public better monitor government spending on vehicles.