Recent malpractice uncovered by auditors

In 2012, 30 families in a village in Heyang county, Shaanxi province, who were living below the poverty line were forced to "donate" 5,000 yuan ($726) to apply for money from a poverty-alleviation fund. The committee of Shenli village applied on behalf of the families for funds to develop local tourism. However, the committee misused its authority by charging the villagers for services that should have been provided free of charge.

More than 350 students from poverty-stricken families in Shangrao county, Jiangxi province, and 188 students in Shiqian county, Guizhou province, were denied financial aid by their local governments between 2015 and last year. The provision of relief funding from both the central and provincial government budgets is stipulated in government regulations. However, the local education authorities, which are legally obliged to request money for poverty-stricken students, didn't pass their details to the relevant poverty-alleviation departments, so the money wasn't allocated.

Last year, the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau in Fengning county, Hebei province, was found to have used nearly 5.6 million yuan earmarked for poverty-relief loans to pay the wages of members of staff and for other business operations.