The anti-graft agency in Hunan province has barred officials from accepting gifts or money on their birthday.

Any official who insisted that accepting gifts on such occasions was a private issue should resign, according to an official from the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee.

The official told the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald on Monday that civil servants should abide by the rules and regulations on clean governance.

About 90 percent of the netizens who expressed an opinion supported the new rule, according to the report.