2010-06-24 07:16

Beijing - The National Audit Office on Wednesday released the country's longest annual audit report, with three unprecedented appendixes, showing the nation's strengthened supervision over the use of public money and determination to curb corruption.

The three detailed appendixes include audit findings of 21 government-invested projects, budget enforcement of 56 central departments, and the analysis and conclusion of 36 major cases handed over by the audit office since 2008.

Last year, the report delivered by Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office, was criticized as delivering a "bark" that leaves no impression, as it failed to name individuals and government agencies that misappropriated funds and State assets.

Guo Caiyun, deputy director of the general office of the National Audit Office, said: "It is the first year that we have adopted this form.

"This report was made without trying to avoid or cover up (any misdeeds), but (with an aim to) disclose and reflect the general situation and common problems and the appendixes are very reader friendly."

The move reflects the firm determination of the Communist Party and the government to push for democracy and a law-based administration, she said, adding that it will positively help protect citizens' right to have supervision.

The analysis and conclusion of the cases handed over by the audit office sufficiently expose the problems plaguing the current system and reveal new characteristics and trends behind the cases, which would help crack down on economic crimes, Guo said.

In 2009, the audit offices across the country published more than 2,200 auditing results, 22 percent more than in 2008, and tracked 1,981 government-invested projects like construction of highways, high-speed railways and power plants.

Ren Jianming, director of the anti-corruption and governance research center of Tsinghua University, said the disclosure of the budget enforcement of each central department is "the most valuable content" in this year's report.

"In the past, the CNAO only reported the general situation of budget enforcement of all the central departments," he said, adding that with this year's report, public attention will put great pressure on departments with problems of extravagance and waste.

Gao Peiyong, a senior finance officer at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said tight auditing should be the norm, as it can help guard the hard-earned money of the taxpayer, and also acts as a powerful weapon in the fight against corruption.