China's top auditor has pledged tougher measures to crack down
on public money being wasted.
Auditor-General of the National Audit Office Li Jinhua said
China would launch a "consuming standard" for officials and the
State Council was now looking at tougher regulations on how to
audit the public purse more effectively.
"Checking on the losses and wasting of national finance funds,
state assets and resources will be one of our work priorities in
the future," Li said on the sidelines of the ongoing Fifth Session
of 10th National People's Congress.
Li was apparently responding to growing calls from national
legislators and political advisers to curb wasted funds.
Feng Pei'en, a member of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee yesterday urged
the government to take measures to control administrative costs,
calling for the promulgation of a law against extravagance and
waste.
The annual administrative expenditure per capita surged by 24
times from 1986 to 2005, and the growth rate was higher than that
of the country's GDP per capita of the same period.
Feng suggested an act on government information disclosure be
delivered so that taxpayers could oversee government
expenditure.
The promulgation of a law against extravagance would also help
the general public to be aware of the "crime of wasting public
resources" and punishing those caught wasting public resources.
Political advisers yesterday also called for the establishment
of trade unions among all foreign-funded enterprises to better
safeguard the interests of employees.
"Foreign investment should absolutely not be encouraged at the
cost of lowered working conditions and standards of employees, and
the government should play a guiding role in coordinating
employer-employee relations," said Zhang Guoxiang also at
yesterday's session.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2007)