BEIJING - China's traffic bureaus have been told to strictly oversee long-distance coaches, especially sleeper buses and those operating at nighttime.

According to a statement released on Thursday after a meeting on the safety of passenger buses, the Ministry of Public Security urged traffic bureaus at all levels to strictly control cross-province coaches with nighttime operations and a single route distance of more than 1,000 km.

Local bus stations and police departments were told to implement a system where coaches should stop operation between 2 to 5 am, or passengers should be transferred to other coaches at designated venues to continue their journeys.

Thursday's guidance came after a road safety campaign initiated in July by the ministry saw road accidents and fatalities drop by 13 percent and 18 percent in the past two months, according to the statement.

In addition, the ministry called for a more transparent rewards system to encourage public whistleblowers in order to prevent road misconduct.