China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spent 12.93 million yuan ($1.88 million) or 25 percent more than budgeted on overseas trips, vehicles and receptions, a result of more frequent overseas trips for trade talks and economy-boosting  forums. 

The overspending was caused mainly by increased overseas trips, on which 60 million yuan was spent in 2018, according to a report released by the Ministry of Finance on  Friday. Total spending on the so-called three public expenditures, which also include expenditures on vehicles and receptions, in 2018 was 64.91 million yuan.

A total of 591 delegations made 2,086 overseas trips, including trips for frequent trade talks to resolve the China-US trade war, overseas trips for bilateral and multilateral economic talks, and meetings of regional and international organizations, said the report. 

The overseas trips included those made during the G20 summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' meeting, according to the report. 

Zhu Lijia, a professor of public management at the Chinese Academy of Governance in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday that it is natural and necessary for the government to spend more on international events as China becomes more active in global affairs.

"The China-US trade war, the booming number of projects of the Belt and Road Initiative and closer cooperation with the Africa and Southeast Asia…have increased the government's business activities" Zhu said.

Many Chinese netizens also expressed their understanding and support for the overspending.  

"It [MOFCOM] has been working really hard since 2018 to fight the China-US trade war to guarantee our economic interests. Spending more is understandable," a Web user commented on popular news app Toutiao News. 

Their comments were echoed by government employees and analysts contacted by the Global Times. 

A 28-year-old official from MOFCOM, who requested anonymity, said that 2018 was not only an expensive year for the ministry but also a stressful year for her.  

The official recalled being called into work on many weekends to deal with an urgent task. "We are on call 24/7," she said.  "The public's reaction makes me feel that my hard work is being recognized by the people." 

An economist close to MOFCOM also told the Global Times that one of his friends at the ministry sometimes work until 3:00 am and weekend work is common. 

This is the ninth year that the central governmental departments have disclosed their "three public expenditures." 

Ninety-three government departments and organizations released their final expenditure reports this year, showing they spend 4 billion yuan which was 1.7 billion yuan less than budgeted, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. 

MOFCOM's expenditures on foreign trips in 2017 was 57.71 million yuan, some 20 million over budget but in line with what the ministry spent in 2016.