NANCHANG, Jan. 6 -- A total of 116 government vehicles were auctioned in east China's Jiangxi Province as part of an anti-corruption drive to curb official car abuse.

According to Xinyu City regulations, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 500 government vehicles will be auctioned off, and the remaining 130 cars will be managed by the newly established official car use center.

Sunday's auction, which lasted for nearly 10 hours, began with a Buick commercial vehicle with an opening bid of 87,000 yuan (14,375 U.S. dollars). After 19 rounds of bidding, the Buick went for 123,000 yuan. Auction sales totaled 7.37 million yuan, with the highest price at 224,000 yuan.

Three more auctions will be held this week, and the proceeds from the auctions will be passed on to the national treasury, said Long Shengren, deputy secretary-general of Xinyu government.

Apart from auctions Xinyu government is cutting waste in other ways. Public servants receive a transportation card for car use with limited credit based on their rank. When the credit runs out they will have to take a bus or taxi at their own expense.

According to the city, estimated administrative costs of up to 15 million yuan will be saved each year thanks to the new regulations on official car use.