Evidence of yet more fraud, waste, mismanagement and irregular accounting and procurement worth billions of yuan was uncovered in the construction and running of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, according to a report by the National Audit Office yesterday.
Irregularities included 491 million yuan (HK$600 million) misappropriated or embezzled by local officials.
Serious problems and irregularities related to the project dated back to the bidding process in late 2007, with auditors finding the Ministry of Railways had not followed standard tendering procedures for civil engineering work and contracts for construction materials.
In some cases, civil engineering companies were given just 13 hours to place their bids, rather than the minimum of five days stipulated by regulations.
The report, the audit office's third investigation into the high-profile rail link, also found there had been difficulties in making payments for the construction work. At the end of May last year, the line had debts of more than 8.25 billion yuan owed to 656 materials suppliers and 1,471 construction contractors.
There were also unnecessary costs incurred through mismanagement of the construction process.
