NPC conducts fiscal inquiry

BEIJING - The country's top legislature on Thursday conducted an unprecedented fiscal inquiry on State Council officials, in a bid to improve supervision of the central government.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and National Audit Office, divided into six groups, attended group discussions of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and answered questions ranging from local government debts to further reforms of fiscal and taxation systems.

The discussions marked the first time the legislative body conducted such an inquiry and was carried out strictly in line with the law, said Li Fei, deputy director of the NPC Standing Committee's legislative affairs commission.