BEIJING - A Ministry of Finance official said Monday that foreign media reports about the country's hefty budget on keeping internal stability are misleading.

The official made the remarks at a conference held by the Ministry of Finance concerning the country's hot financial issues.

Some foreign media reports emphasized that China paid more stability management, or weiwen, than on military purposes, saying the move suggests China has to address "growing public discontent" by spending huge sums of money.

"In government categories, China only has budgetary funds for necessary public security, which covers, for example, public health, public transportation and construction safety," said the official, adding that some reports have misinterpreted or distorted the fact.

"Many countries spent more on public security than on national defense," the official said.

The official quoted the International Monetary Fund statistics for a proof, showing that expenditures on public security outstripped those on military by 14 percent, 5 percent, 57 percent, 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in Germany, Britain, Japan, Australia and Russia.

The Ministry of Finance announced earlier this year that expenditures on public security would rise 13.8 percent year on year to 624.4 billion yuan ($98.03 billion) while the defense budget would rise 12.7 percent to 601.1 billion yuan.