Central government cars auctioned in cost-cutting move

Nearly 4,000 cars seized from central authorities in a frugality campaign since last July to reduce the government's fleet have been sold at public auction, China's top economic planner said on Wednesday.

The money raised from selling the 3,868 vehicles, more than 60 percent of the central government's fleet, has gone to the central treasury, said Lian Weiliang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference.

More than 2,000 drivers of the cars have been re-employed, Lian said, promising that a review of local governments' implementation of the campaign will be completed by the end of this year.

In 2014, the central government issued guidelines demanding that government vehicles only be used for select purposes including intelligence communication and emergencies, not regular government affairs. Endi