BEIJING (AFP) - Officials in eastern China have triggered public outrage by claiming that a $425,000 yacht bought with government money was intended for collecting taxes.

Images of the 32-metre (100-foot) yacht appeared on social media sites in China, sparking a furious reaction from bloggers who called for an investigation ino the tax bureau in Zhejiang province.

The zjol.com.cn news website, which is run by authorities in Zhejiang, quoted tax official Fang Yongjun as saying the yacht's two decks had been converted for use as a tax collection office.

The tax bureau needs the yacht because many local businesses operate on the Thousand Island Lake, a national tourist area, the report said.

It quoted the yacht's builder Ma Xiaochun as saying the 2.71 million yuan

($425,000) price tag was low compared with other boats on the lake.

But netizens were unconvinced. "Do they need a helicopter for tax collection in the mountains?" asked one web user on Netease.com, a popular Chinese portal.

Public spending has come under growing scrutiny this year after Beijing ordered central government departments to publish details of their expenditure on cars, foreign trips and receptions.

Spending on those three areas by the State Administration of Taxation amounted to 2.17 billion yuan, the highest of all the 95 departments that have released figures to date, previous Chinese media reports have said.

"Taxpayers were not even consulted about the purchase," columnist Wang Shichuan wrote Monday in the Zhujiang Evening News, a newspaper in southern China.

"Supervision and auditing authorities should investigate the purchase of the yacht and make sure the use of the boat will be transparent... it would be a waste of taxpayer's hard-earned money if the yacht is used for fun."