The government of Shaoyang, Hunan province, has recently been sending text messages to its residents to comment favorably in a phone survey asking people their opinions of the local government's performance, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

City residents who answered questions in the phone survey would get 300 yuan ($50) from the city government as a subsidy.

Residents have said that the message sent by the city government means that they can only praise the government's performance and that the subsidy was being used to buy their opinions.

The city's comprehensive management office said that residents can say what they want in the survey and that the subsidy is being used to encourage them to actively take part in the poll.