China's top auditor has pledged tougher measures to crack down on public
money being wasted.
Auditor-General of the National Audit Office Li Jinhua said China would
launch a "consuming standard" for officials and the State Council was now
looking at tougher regulations on how to audit the public purse more
effectively.
"Checking on the losses and wasting of national finance funds, state assets
and resources will be one of our work priorities in the future," Li said on the
sidelines of the ongoing Fifth Session of 10th National People's Congress.
Li was apparently responding to growing calls from national legislators and
political advisers to curb wasted funds.
Feng Pei'en, a member of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee yesterday urged the
government to take measures to control administrative costs, calling for the
promulgation of a law against extravagance and waste.
|
Eight-year-old Li Shuangyi takes a photo at a panel discussion during
the fifth session of the 10th CPPCC on Sunday. Li, a pupil from Tianjin,
is the youngest photographer covering the event for Young Chinese
Journalists magazine. Wei Xi |
The annual administrative expenditure per capita surged by 24 times from 1986
to 2005, and the growth rate was higher than that of the country's GDP per
capita of the same period.
Feng suggested an act on government information disclosure be delivered so
that taxpayers could oversee government expenditure.
The promulgation of a law against extravagance would also help the general
public to be aware of the "crime of wasting public resources" and punishing
those caught wasting public resources.
Political advisers yesterday also called for the establishment of trade
unions among all foreign-funded enterprises to better safeguard the interests of
employees.
"Foreign investment should absolutely not be encouraged at the cost of
lowered working conditions and standards of employees, and the government should
play a guiding role in coordinating employer-employee relations," said Zhang
Guoxiang also at yesterday's session.
Xinhua contributed to the story
(China Daily 03/13/2007 page7)
