State reins in officials' spending

An annual audit released on Sunday showed central government spending on overseas visits, official vehicles and receptions dropped sharply last year as the country stepped up austerity efforts.

Spending in the three categories decreased by 27 percent year-on-year in 2014 in a random audit of 44 central government agencies carried out by the National Audit Office.

The final accounts showed that the central government spent 5.88 billion yuan ($947 million) on the three areas last year, 1.27 billion yuan less than was budgeted. Among the expenditures, 1.6 billion yuan was spent on overseas visits, 3.6 billion yuan on the purchase and maintenance of government vehicles and 661 million yuan on official receptions.