The National Audit Office says 753 million yuan (HK$854 million) in agricultural funds misused by 10 provincial-level governments has been returned to its proper use.
The audit office said in a statement on its website that in the past year the 10 governments - Henan, Gansu, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Hunan, Fujian and Shaanxi provinces, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Chongqing municipality - had looked into the misuse of the funds two years ago.
Of 58 million yuan in agricultural funds used by governments to purchase vehicles or build houses, 41 million yuan had been returned to designated agricultural investment targets by the end of May, it said.
The audit office said 26 officials found to have committed wrongdoing had been investigated by party discipline or justice departments. Two had been arrested and 23 had been disciplined.
The central government has long ordered regional governments to spend rural-designated money exclusively within the sector, a policy designed to protect the country's ability to feed its 1.3 billion people.
However, low-level governments had not executed the policy well, the audit office found.
