More support should be given to local audit offices to beef up their effectiveness, according to an article in Guangming Daily. An excerpt follows:

Auditor-General Li Jinhua's report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) last month stirred up an audit storm.

While Li's National Audit Office (NAO) is basking in praise for their efforts, their local counterparts are out of the spotlight.

According to reports, before Li's National Audit Office uncovered the misuse of 6 million yuan (US$750,000) by the local education bureau in Wuchuan, a city in South China's Guangdong Province, the local audit office had already conducted its investigation but failed to unearth the dirty dealings.

Instead of being an isolated case, this is a common occurrence for local audit offices.

In recent years, while a slew of big scandals have been uncovered by the NAO, local offices seemed impotent.

To some extent the current system can be blamed for the problem.

Compared to the same level government departments, the audit office is always understaffed and operates with a meager budget.

But the institutions they are required to audit are more than they can handle considering their staffs and budgets, preventing them from conducting thorough auditing and resulting in their ineffectiveness.

In addition, under the current system, the local government is in charge of the audit office's personnel and budget affairs.

Under such an arrangement, when the office audits local government, its independence and impartiality are understandably questioned.

It is high time that local audit offices' work be strengthened to serve as a powerful check on local government.

Currently, while it is hard to overhaul the existing system, it would be prudent for more professionals and greater financing backing to be made available to local audit offices.

(China Daily July 14, 2004)