Beijing, Nov 18 (IANS): Around 16,699 people were punished for violating the frugality guidelines of the Communist Party of China (CPC) amid anti-corruption efforts, the party disciplinary watchdog said Monday.

Among them, 3,721 received party or administrative punishment by the end of September, according to the CPC disciplinary panel, Xinhua reported.

In December 2012, the Political Bureau of the CPC issued a package of rules requiring officials to improve their work styles and refrain from excessive spending, and the rules have been strictly implemented since then.

Xinhua, however, in the later part of the story referred to people as "officials".

The officials who have received punishment mostly served at the township level and were involved in violations of regulations concerning the ban on government building projects, excessive spending on receptions, use of government vehicles for private purposes, unnecessary trips in China and abroad using public money, as well as excessively large wedding banquets, according to the notice posted on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's official website.

Other cases included giving and receiving gifts during holidays, using public money for luxury consumption, and indolent work styles.