A night view of Yuquan Lake Park is seen in Hotan City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 28, 2020. Located to the south of the Taklimakan Desert, Hotan City has taken on a new look as the living environment is improved a lot with the modernization of infrastructure. (Xinhua/Sadat)

China's government departments' budgets for purchasing real estate have been slashed this year, including a 40 percent downsizing for investment, according to a statement released by the National Government Offices Administration on Wednesday. 

Additionally, budgets for government office refurbishment have been cut by 18 percent and the budgets for renovating old office compounds are being reduced by 40 percent. 

These cuts are in line with a call for governmental organs to tighten their belts, made in the Government Work Report during this year's "two sessions" - NPC and CPPCC. 

According to thepaper.com, any spending on real estate, including the construction of new office buildings will be tightly controlled to avoid waste and unnecessary consumption. 

Finance Minister Liu Kun, who gave an interview during the "two sessions", there's still room for the Ministry of Finance to limit government spending. Spending by the central government will be further reduced, with non-emergency and discretionary expenditures cut by more than 50 percent. 

Liu said that the normal operations of government organs will not be affected. 

Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times that the move to reduce government spending comes amid downward pressure on the economy from the coronavirus outbreak, in particular declines in tax revenues.

To ease tax pressures on businesses, more than 900 billion yuan ($127.2 billion) of cuts were made in the first four months of this year. 

Several provincial and municipal governments have also announced budget cuts. Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has banned eight activities to reduce spending, including the purchases of new cars and construction of new buildings. 

The government in Shaotong, Southwest China's Yunnan Province issued new policies to curb government spending.