Call for auditors to fight fraud
AUDITING departments have been urged to report unscrupulous financial behaviour to inspection teams and judicial bodies.
State Councillor Li Guixian demanded auditing authorities at all levels work closely with law-enforcement units to crack down on economic crime and embezzlement.
The cases of disgraced Beijing party chief Chen Xitong and former vice-mayor Wang Baosen, who killed himself over alleged economic crimes, pointed to loopholes in the financial management of government authorities, he said.
He said the amount of funds illegally approved for projects last year was double the 1994 figure.
Mr Li also said many officials still lacked awareness of financial budgets and their legal implications.
Speaking at a national conference in Beijing yesterday, he urged the authorities to take seriously cases of funds approved without authorisation. He said remedies must be introduced to stem losses caused by improper financial controls and economic crimes.
'In the struggle against corruption, auditing departments and other law-enforcing authorities have to co-ordinate with each other and work closely so that they all attend their own duties,' Mr Li was quoted as saying by Xinhua (the New China News Agency) yesterday.
He reminded auditors that many economic crimes could be traced from the financial balance sheets.
The Auditing Law must be enforced in the coming five years to supervise the budgeting and account management of government departments, banking institutions and state enterprises, he said.
Xinhua also quoted Mr Li as asking for investigations into management of funds which are not included in local budgeting.
