Govt to rectify audit problems

Government departments singled out in the 2011 audit report must rectify the problems and report their results to the State Council by the end of October, a conference presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao said in a statement on Wednesday.

The State Council will make a special report on the rectifications to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at the end of this year, it said.

On June 27, China's top auditor delivered the 2011 audit report at a session of the Standing Committee of the NPC.

The National Audit Office identified 112 major violations of law and economic crimes last year.

More than 300 people were involved in the violations, some of them administrative department chiefs, according to Liu Jiayi, auditor-general of the National Audit Office.

The leaders of departments identified in the report must take responsibility for addressing the problems, the statement said.

Any who delay, make excuses or refuse to address the problems will be punished, the conference said.

Governments at all levels need to make efforts to deal with the main problems in the audit report that relate to people's livelihoods and publicize the measures taken to address them, the statement said.

On Wednesday, the State Council conference also heard an audit report on social security funds in 2011. According to the report, the total revenue of 18 types of social security funds last year was 2.84 trillion yuan ($450 billion), more than three times that of 2005.

The total expense of 2011 security funds was 2.11 trillion yuan, a threefold increase over 2005. The balance of the accumulated social security fund stood at 3.11 trillion yuan at the end of 2011, more than four times that of 2005.

The audit report said some departments violated social security regulations.

Methods and procedures of information release about the social security fund system should be made clear to the public, the conference said.

jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn