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| Lawmakers Try to Head off Land Sale Irregularities |
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Chinese lawmakers have suggested that land sale incomes collected by local governments should be incorporated into their budgets to prevent corruption and uncontrolled spending, the China Youth Daily said Thursday. Discussing an annual audit report, the lawmakers said the move would stop local governments from spending unaccountably on fixed-asset investment and urban infrastructure projects. The huge income from land sales and rentals had enabled local governments to spend heavily on big and inappropriate projects, a major factor in the overheating of the economy, said Zhou Zhengqing, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Lawmaker Huang He said land sale and rentals accounted for 10 percent of the government's fiscal revenue. Most local governments failed to incorporate this revenue into their budgets so they could spend the money without control and supervision from central authorities, he said. Since they had the total control over the money, local governments had a strong motivation to sell land, the lawmakers said. The annual report by the auditor general released Wednesday indicates that of the 87 development zones audited last year, 60 were selling land at inappropriately low prices. Several other lawmakers said the lack of proper controls over the spending of land sale revenues had led to rampant corruption. Lawmaker and former Railway Minister Fu Zhihuan said the government should look at how to improve the management of land sale revenues starting from this year. Any new policy must give the legislative body a greater say in the management of the money, he said. (Xinhua News Agency June 29, 2006) |
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