Chief auditor issues graft warning to subordinates

To curb corruption among the nation's graft busters, China's chief auditor has vowed to punish provincial subordinates if serious problems are later discovered in institutions they audited.

Auditor-General Li Jinhua said the performance of local audit officers would be questioned if serious discipline violations and economic crimes were found after the original audit, Xinhua reported yesterday.

The warning came after a Hebei auditor, Zhang Hongtao, died in April after a liquor-laden banquet thrown by government officials during an audit of a county electricity bureau project.

'Some audit institutions have shown problems in internal management, especially budget implementation and financial management,' Mr Li said, adding that 'some signs of corruption and discipline violations also exist'.

Mr Li's National Audit Office posted a circular on its website in August in which it cited Zhang's death in urging local audit departments to hold audit officers responsible for breaches of discipline.

Deputy auditor-general Liu Jiayi said earlier this month that the audit office was opening itself to external scrutiny to fight corruption in its own ranks.