The government of Yulin, a city in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, held a public auction on June 3 to sell luxury cars used by city officials and state-owned enterprises' executives.

The money collected at the auction was turned over to the city's finance department.

A total of 20 luxury cars were auctioned, with 19 vehicles sold at 5.56 million yuan ($873,500), while an imported luxury SUV with a top price of 980,000 yuan remain unsold, Li Bo, an official with the city's government office, told China Daily on June 4.

"The luxury vehicles broke regulations issued by the central government regarding which vehicles can be purchased by the government and state-owned enterprises," Li said.

On May 14, several photos of the cars were posted online with a message saying that government officials and state-owned enterprises' executives in Yulin were using cars that violated purchasing guidelines. The local government launched an investigation and seized 153 luxury cars.

"The 20 cars were the first batch of vehicles to be dealt with. The other seized cars will be dealt with later," Li said.

The auction attracted more than 230 people, including many local residents and some people from the neighboring Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.

"I want to buy a second-hand car and I think the cars auctioned would be in good condition as they were used by the government and state-owned enterprises. So I came to see if I can buy one," a man surnamed Gao from Shenmu county, Shaanxi province, said.

Among the 20 auctioned vehicles, nine were luxury cars and 11 were luxury SUVs.

The 19 cars sold at the auction were used in average for 3.2 years, with an average buying price of 450,000 yuan and an average price at the auction of 292,600 yuan.