Population of 'sinking villages' found inflated for more funds

BEIJING - A town in Anhui province has been found to be inflating the number of residents in "sinking villages" in coal mining areas in order to get more relocation funds.

In Panji township, Huainan city in Anhui province, 3,633 residents were said to have received subsidies from the provincial authorities in the first and second stages of the relocation project, totaling about 3.3 million yuan ($516,370), according to the schedule of distributions in 2009 released by the provincial government.

But records from the Panji district, the immediate leadership of the township, showed that only about 2,200 residents had actually been relocated.