Guangdong collected 1.45 billion yuan ($239 million) last year from people who had more children than the family planning policy allows.

The Guangdong Commission of Health and Family Planning said in a statement on Wednesday that the amount received in funding by a local family planning department is not related to how much it collects in social maintenance fees.

The spending of a local family planning department is included in the local government's annual budget, the commission said.

Social maintenance fees that are collected are placed in special accounts set up by local financial departments to be used in line with the overall financial plan.

The commission said that embezzlement of social maintenance fees is forbidden. Those who break the rules will be dealt with severely.