Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on Monday called on the country's auditing department to improve its work in order to build a clean government and ensure sustained and healthy economic development.

Addressing leading officials of the Auditing Administration of the People's Republic of China, the premier said that the department has done a good job in auditing and supervising government departments and institutions over the past five years.

The auditing work has helped to maintain order in the economy through detecting and curbing fraudulent activities such as accounting frauds.

In his speech to department officials in the course of his inspection tour, the premier said that auditing departments had uncovered and handled a number of major cases, contributing to the country's fight against corruption and its efforts to build a clean government, said the premier.

He called on the administration to improve its performance in the years to come and gave priority to the auditing of the execution of fiscal budget to ensure that fiscal expenditures and reported income are accurate and legal.

Zhu called for the improved auditing of taxation and finance departments and of leading state-owned enterprises, in order to increase revenue, safeguard financial security and prevent the loss of state assets.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2003)