Billions of yuan in problems rectified

Problems found in an audit of key funds and projects related to people's livelihoods last year, including the misuse of billions of yuan in funds, have been mostly rectified, a report said.

A report on the rectification of problems found in the audit of the central budget's implementation and other financial revenues and expenditures last year was delivered at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Tuesday.

This year, the office has inspected the rectification of problems in areas of public concern, such as medical insurance funds, government-subsidized housing projects and rural vitalization, according to the report.

The report revealed problems in the basic medical insurance fund involving 8.98 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) last year. The problems have been rectified, with 886 people receiving punishment and 274 systems improved to avoid further problems.

Of the 1.06 billion yuan of medical insurance funds swindled last year, 846 million yuan has been recovered, and the rest is planned to be recovered by the end of June next year.

Problems found in government-subsidized housing projects have been rectified. About 800 illegally occupied public rental houses have been withdrawn from use or restored to their original uses. About 3,700 public rental houses that have been vacant for more than a year have been allocated to tenants, according to the report.

Misuse of funds found in areas such as compulsory education, environmental protection and poverty relief and rural vitalization projects have been solved to a great extent, according to the report.

Ji Jisheng, deputy director of the National Audit Office's policy research department, said the work has prompted government agencies to improve their regulatory work and plug loopholes.