A total of 170 Chinese officials have been punished over the past year for violating regulations on the use of public funds for government vehicles, new figures have demonstrated.

Since the launch of a national campaign to cut public spending on government cars last year, the number of cars owned by central Party and government departments has dropped by 35 percent, according to information revealed at a national conference on Thursday on the disposal of such cars.

A total of 949 investigations were launched under the campaign, following public or media reports, and 199,600 vehicles nationwide were found to have been purchased or used not in accordance with regulations, the conference was told.

Conference participants were also briefed on a recent instruction of He Guoqiang, head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as well as the instructions of the CCDI deputy head He Yong and State Councilor Ma Kai, on the special campaign.

In his instruction, He Guoqiang voiced appreciation for the progress achieved in the campaign so far, and he called for intensified efforts to deal with major problems in this area.

It was agreed at the conference that the task of regulating unnecessary government car purchase and use remains arduous and there should be no slacking off in the campaign efforts.

Conference participants also urged efforts to properly handle the vehicles involved in the violation cases.

Government spending on official vehicles as well as spending on overseas trips and official receptions are commonly seen by the public as three major sources of corruption and waste in China.

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