BEIJING - Private use of government-funded vehicles in South China's Guangzhou city has sharply decreased since authorities began using global positioning systems (GPS) to monitor their mileage.

According to a report in Tuesday edition of the People's Daily, the Guangzhou government had installed the homegrown Beidou GPS device in almost 8,500 official vehicles across the city to record driver identities, their routes, destinations and speed.

As a result, the average monthly mileage of each government car reduced to 1,291 km in 2012 from the previous 1,770 km, the newspaper quoted Mei Heqing, spokesperson for the Guangzhou municipal commission for discipline inspection, as saying.

The reduction means 5,000 yuan ($805) can be saved per vehicle per month, Mei said.

He added that anyone violating the regulations for using official cars will be reported each month and punished severely. Public supervision is also welcome.

Private use of official cars has been rampant in China due to loose regulations and supervision. In an effort to fight corruption, however, the central government recently imposed "frugality" regulations on its civil servants, barring them from spending public money unnecessarily.