The National Audit Office (NAO), the country's top audit body,
has pledged to strengthen its supervision of social security funds
in a bid to curb misappropriation and embezzlement.
In a circular issued yesterday, the NAO said it will conduct a
thorough check of the country's funds in a bid to identify areas of
lax management and corruption.
Five funds of particular interest to the public will be
scrutinized. These are the endowment insurance, unemployment
insurance, urban medical insurance, work injury insurance and
maternity insurance funds.
The audit will be carried out at provincial, municipal and
county levels and will become an annual event.
The circular said that the main aim of the check was to get a
clear view of the scale, distribution and management of the
funds.
The NAO said the check will also help it to detect inherent
problems in the collection, management and use of the funds.
"Through consecutive audits, (it is expected) to boost the
collection of social security funds and ensure their safety," the
circular said.
Audits of other funds, such as the housing accumulation fund,
rural health insurance, will also be conducted in time, it
said.
Li Jinhua, auditor-general of the NAO also promised better
auditing at the municipal and county levels in the future.
The first audit will focus on the integrity of fund collection,
the regular inflow and outflow from the funds, maintaining their
value and growth as well as detecting loopholes in the current
collection and distribution systems, Li said.
Illicit activities like misuse, misappropriation, embezzlements,
and unlawful transfers will be targeted during the check.
China's social security funds have attracted a lot of attention
in recent years due to the exposure of several cases of fund
misappropriation, involving corrupt officials.
Last year, Chen Liangyu, Party secretary of Shanghai, was sacked
and put under investigation for the country's largest pension
scandal.
He was alleged to have misappropriated 3.2 billion yuan
(US$415.6 million) of the city's pension funds to invest in
construction projects for his personal gain.
(China Daily May 22, 2007)