(BEIJING) March 1: China's Ministry of Finance refused to release more than 313.4 billio yuan (US$51 billion) of its 2014 budget after an evaluation found certain proposals "untruthful", state media reported on Saturday.

The finance ministry evaluated proposals worth as much as 2.44 trillion yuan last year in a bid to toughen oversight of budget spending, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

In December, China said it would reform its fiscal reporting system in an effort to cope with massive debts run up by local governments, and would shift budgetary control back to the central government.

China is working to improve budget management and allow the central government to take on more spending obligations, reducing the need for local governments to borrow heavily or sell off land to raise revenue.