Cut government spending for real

Supervising government spending with a budget law would be a good start to force the government to save money, said an editorial in Southern Metropolis Daily (excerpts below).

Eighty-two departments of the Chinese central government reduced their spending on receptions, vehicles and overseas travel by 420 million yuan ($68.4 million) last year. This represents 6.75 percent of their budgets.

The Chinese government's spending in the three areas had increased yearly before 2012. The historic reduction comes conveniently and properly after the new leadership pledged in its debut news conference in November to cut government spending.

The question is whether the reduction exists only on paper or represents real cuts.

The audit authority said in late June that some ministries asked their subordinate units to pay for their receptions, vehicles and overseas travel. Expenditures declined in the books of the ministry-level authorities because some of their expenses were transferred to lower-level departments.

According to the State Council, those lower-level departments must disclose their spending in these fields by the end of 2015.

The ministry departments' final accounting of their revenues and expenditures are as vague as their disclosures of their budgets. Their reports are confusing and lack details for the public and even the members of the National People's Congress.

Cutting government expenditures should not be a game of numbers on paper. Lawmakers must pass a budget law to supervise the government's spending.

The authority should let the taxpayers know why, where, how, when and on whom their money is spent.