Auditors weed out bodies using funds incorrectly

The implementation of the budget revenue, distribution and investment plan last year was generally good and matched the economic development pace, but a few problems involving the use of funds in livelihood industries were still discovered by Chinese auditors.

The problems have been outlined by the National Audit Office in a report, which was submitted to an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for review on Monday.

The report disclosed audit results concerning livelihood, such as those on promoting employment, housing rental, compulsory education in urban and rural areas, and rural vitalization.

The office audited the subsidies for compulsory education in urban and rural areas, finding that educational departments and 45 schools in seven provinces illegally collected sponsorship funds amounting to over 1 billion yuan ($138 million), according to the report.

It also revealed that 308 schools in four provinces forced students to purchase computers and illegally collected tutoring fees, totaling 91.3 million yuan.

The actual controllers of 10 private schools in seven provinces were found to have transferred funds through irregular dividends and transactions, amounting to 941 million yuan, the report said.

The report also showed some falsified areas in vocational skills training and unemployment compensation, and it pointed out that some projects involving rural vitalization faced problems such as operating losses, low survival rates in farming and abandoned facilities.

While focusing more on the fields of livelihood, auditing was also carried out in central enterprises and financial institutions, with multiple problems disclosed in the report.

It said that auditors have found and transferred more than 300 clues on violations of discipline and law since May last year, involving more than 1,800 people.

For the problems found during the auditing, the office said on Monday that it will follow the rectification process in relevant departments and disclose the rectification results by the end of this year.