Hundreds of government officials have been penalized or are
under investigation for misuse of government funds, according to a
report released Wednesday at a State Council meeting chaired by
Premier Wen
Jiabao.
As of October this year, the central government treasury had
reclaimed 20.9 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) of the 28.6 billion
yuan (US$3.5 billion) that the National Audit Office (NAO) found government
departments and local authorities had illegally kept. The
discoveries were made during the NAO's audit of expenditures from
the 2003 budget.
The individual departments have retrieved 98.8 percent of the
funds that illegally withheld, according to report.
The State Council has placed heavy emphasis on correcting such
problems, and the report noted that individual government
departments have complied with requirements to improve internal
management after the auditors uncovered the problems.
Cases currently being processed are expected to be complete by
the first quarter next year, according to the report, but the
government will continue to work on financial management issues and
improve the auditing process.
At the State Council meeting, government departments were also
urged to cut costs, increase efficiency and cooperate with
auditors.
A report suggesting solutions to these problems will be
submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress (NPC), the
country's top legislature.
Also at the meeting, the State Council passed an amendment to
the Corporation Law and a draft law on civil servants. These will
also be submitted to the NPC Standing Committee.
(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2004)