China's auditor to step up scrutiny of overseas state assets

A total of 2.69 billion yuan (393.76 million U.S. dollars) of farming-aid fund was found to have been misused in Chinese localities, the National Audit Office (NAO) announced on Sunday.

The office last year launched an auditing campaign over the management and utilization of the 2006-2007 fiscal farming-aid funds in 10 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Henan, Gansu and Jiangsu.

Auditing result found that more than 2.69 billion yuan of the fund was misused, the office said in a statement.

Some 58.37 million yuan, for example, was spent on automobile purchase or building construction, it said.

So far, two people involved have been prosecuted and 23 others given administrative or Communist Party disciplinary punishment.

Some 85 percent of the misused fund has been recovered or re-channeled into farming-aid projects, the office said.

It promised continued efforts to rectify problems to ensure the proper use of the fund.

Source: Xinhua