IN BRIEF (Page 4)

BEIJING

Audit: Billions in funding unspent

Top auditor said on Tuesday that 9.7 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) of funds earmarked for social projects had gone unspent. The findings came as the National Audit Office released its first-quarter review on the use of funds allocated to major social projects such as poverty relief, urban sewage treatment and affordable housing. Redundant procedures for project approval, insufficient budget plans and lagging policy implementation were among the reasons given for the inefficient use of the money.