Bring spending into the open

Supervision over public spending has been increasingly strengthened over recent years; the reform plan on government vehicles announced on Thursday further illustrates the top leadership's determination to tackle the issue. Data shows over 60 percent of public spending goes to vehicles and we hope the new reform will be followed by total reform of the whole.

sina.com, July 20

By aiming at perhaps the biggest part of public spending, the newly released government vehicle reform plan of central State departments will not only save taxpayers' money, but also set an example for the whole nation to follow.

Jia Kang, director of the Institute for Fiscal Science, Ministry of Finance, People's Daily, July 19

On the basis of publishing the budgets and settlements of national departments, their detailed annual spending should also be published in the form of charts, so that the public can see which of them has made progress and which lags behind.

Ye Qing, vice-director of the Hubei Bureau of Statistics, Beijing News, July 19

As expected, the settlements of the central State departments for the 2013 budget year were published on Saturday. The move involves 95 departments and the report about their spending is "unprecedentedly" detailed, a good start for transparency.

Beijing Youth Daily, July 19

Considering regional differences, it is impossible to set a single public spending standard for the whole nation. The drafting of standards for different regions is both a difficult and key step in the public spending reform.

Wang Xixin, professor of law at Peking University, Legal Daily, July 19

Of all the columns in the settlement report, there is a special one "other spending". Sometimes that's necessary because unexpected spending might be necessary by government departments while performing duties, but some officials put unreasonable spending in that column. Measures must be taken to prevent officials from hiding over-spending under such cover.

Liu Shangxi, vice-director of the Institute for Fiscal Science, Ministry of Finance, Beijing Morning Post, July 19