Enterprises directly under the control of the central government will be subject to stricter audits this year to ensure State assets are used appropriately, the country's top auditor said yesterday.

Monopolies will come under particularly close scrutiny, he added.

Quoting Premier Wen Jiabao, Li Jinhua, auditor general of the National Audit Office, said his office would not only expand the scope of its audits, but also increase their frequency inState enterprises.

"The premier said we should not only audit the economic liabilities of the 53 key enterprises directly under the central government, but also conduct more routine and special checks," Li was quoted by the China Audit News as saying yesterday.

"State-owned and -controlled enterprises are closely linked with the economic health of China," Li said.

Li also said that audit work should stay focussed and not meddle in the normal operations of the enterprises.

Yu Xiaoming, the deputy auditor-general, said audit offices nationwide looked into the affairs of 6,997 State-owned enterprises last year. They uncovered 281.4 billion yuan ($36.3 billion) worth of "problematic money", saving the country 2.1 billion yuan ($271 million).

They also handed over 363 bits of evidence suggesting economic crime to procuratorates nationwide, which involved 5.3 billion yuan ($684 million).

Audits of 15 State businesses last year uncovered 13.2 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) worth of "problematic money", and 12 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) worth of underperforming State assets.

The audit office also detected losses of State assets worth 1.8 billion yuan ($232 million), and helped the government save 500 million yuan ($64.5 million), Yu said.

"Through audits, we effectively safeguarded the steady and safe development of the national economy," Yu was quoted by the paper as saying.

Yu said the office's main tasks this year are to audit the Ministry of Railways as well as PetroChina, China Huadian Corporation, Harbin Power Equipment Corporation and China Resources Corporation, four key State-owned enterprises.

Source: China Daily