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Lawmakers to auditor: 'Bite' instead of 'bark'

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-25 21:52

BEIJING: Chinese lawmakers are pushing for the national auditor to "bite" when it comes to individual and official breaches of law, instead of delivering a "bark" that leaves no impression.

Legislators said the annual audit report delivered Wednesday by Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), failed to name and shame individuals and government agencies for the illegal use of funds and embezzlement of state assets.

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In a 24-page report delivered to the members of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, Liu omitted the full names of individuals and agencies that violated laws and regulations.

He used phrases such as "a few departments" "some agencies" or "somebody" to refer to those who illegally allocated public funds, spent extravagantly on conferences and official trips and engaged in other illegal practices, making it hard for lawmakers to identify them.

In one instance, when reporting serious legal and regulatory breaches, Liu described the case as follows: "The former general manager of a company whose surname was Li, who was in league with many managers in three subordinate companies, had seized, transferred and embezzled more than 18 million yuan (US$2.63 million) between 2002 and 2004."

Liu's predecessor Li Jinhua won fame by identifying those who misused government funds.

An audit report should not gloss over the facts or avoid giving full names when it came to criticism, and audits should never be too "gentle," legislator Huang Zhendong said Thursday.

Nan Zhenzhong, another lawmaker, said audit departments should not hide the facts from the legislature, except for state secrets.

Phrases such as "a few departments" "some agencies" or "somebody" should be avoided and the report should not make members of the NPC Standing Committee do crossword puzzles, he said.

Lawmaker Wu Xiaoling called for increased transparency by government agencies in fulfilling their responsibilities and tasks.

Individuals and agencies that violated rules and regulations would face much more pressure if their audit information was made public instead of being asked to report to the State Council (Cabinet), she said.

All audit information should be transparent to better enforce financial discipline, she added.

Chief auditor Liu Jiayi said Wednesday that funds embezzled from public finances totaling more than 26.77 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion), revealed in last year's audits, had been recovered or returned to former funding channels.