On June 23 Auditor-General Li
Jinhua submitted the 2003 audit report to the Standing
Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC). The report,
disclosing alarming misuses of funds by central and local
government agencies, has created a nationwide uproar.
The Oriental Outlook Weekly obtained an exclusive
interview with Zhang Qiuxia, director of the National Audit
Office's (NAO's) Department of Non-Profit Government Agencies
Audit, to provide an official explanation of the report and the
work of the NAO.
Oriental Outlook Weekly: This is the second time
that the audit has discovered malpractice by the State Forestry
Administration (SFA). Did they not make an effort to correct their
problems?
Zhang Qiuxia: We did disclose in the 2002 report the
malpractices of institutions under the SFA and direct them to
correct those malpractices. The SFA has submitted its report on the
process and result of corrective action to us. But other
institutions under the SFA were caught misusing funds for the year
2003. The SFA knows it is important to correct malpractice by its
subordinate institutions and plans to step up its efforts in this
regard.
OOW: Some people say the monies that were used by the
General Administration of Sports are connected with International
Olympic Committee funds. Is that true?
Zhang: You can refer to the audit report for the answer
to this question.
OOW: The NAO will reportedly audit institutions of higher
learning. Why is that?
Zhang: The plan to audit institutions of higher learning
is required by the Conference on Administration Honesty convened by
the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist
Party of China and the State Council. Moreover, the citizens expect
institutions of higher learning to be audited.
OOW: What was the reaction of the Ministry of Education
(MOE) to the audit report on basic education? We have seen little
in the way of a response.
Zhang: The MOE knows the audit is important. It has
stepped up its efforts to correct the unjustified education fees.
Fifty counties are covered in the 2003 report; limited resources
prevented us from auditing other counties. We are sure that
malpractice exists in those unaudited counties as well.
OOW: According to Auditor-General Li Jinhua, the audit
should eliminate severe malpractice in central government agencies
in three years. Do the trends reflected in the past several years
of audit reports confirm that prediction?
Zhang: In recent years, we have been intensifying our
audits of budget utilization by central government agencies. The
reports from 1999 to 2003 show that the incidence of malpractice,
in general, has been declining. The 2003 figure is higher than that
of 2002 because of the increase in the number of second-tier budget
institutions that are covered by our audit and the rise in our
audit resources.
OOW: What are the most common types of malpractice in the
central government agencies?
Zhang: In 2003 they were more or less the same as in
previous years. However, the indication of particularly high
incidences of one or two types of malpractice may vary owing to the
different focuses for the audit each year. Furthermore, the
agencies will strengthen their supervision of areas where
malpractice is rampant according to the audit report, but
malpractice may well pop up in other, less vigilantly watched,
areas.
OOW: Some central government agencies have reportedly
expressed doubt about the Yangtze River Dam Project audit. What is
your view?
Zhang: I believe that we have done a solid job. We have
been striving to enhance the quality of the audit. There will not
be any errors in our determination of the nature of the
wrongdoings. In general, the central government agencies have been
doing very well in coordinating our work and correcting
malpractice, recognizing the importance of the audit. They may,
however, have doubts about some issues. Nonetheless, we must
conduct our audit and weigh issues in accordance with the laws and
regulations.
OOW: We heard that the NAO will start auditing the
General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central
Committee and General Office of the State Council this year.
Zhang: Last year, the National Audit Office conducted
research and investigation, and then adjusted the audit fields of
some subordinate representative offices. In the past, we only
examined departments under the State Council. Now, the finances of
departments of the CPC Central Committee, NPC, Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), public security bureaus,
procuratorial organs, courts, and mass organizations have all been
placed under our supervision. That is to say, all the state-funded
organizations will be audited.
The audits of the NPC and CPPCC have not begun, but they will be
phased in. Usually, the audit starts in July and continues to late
June the following year. We are now considering the plan for the
second half of the year.
The audits of ministries are routine work. The audit report this
year involves seven of them, although we audit
the budget utilization of some 50-60 departments under the State
Council a year.
OOW: National Audit Office and these ministries are
ministerial departments under the State Council. What do they think
of your work? Are they afraid of you?
Zhang: The audit gives their financial managers some
anxiety.
OOW: Are judicial departments also audited?
Zhang: Departments outside of the State Council have just
been included on our audit list, so there was no examination of
them in 2003. But we have conducted special audits and
investigations of them in the past several years, including the
public security bureaus, courts and prosecutorial offices.
OOW: In 2003, did the central government ask you to give
priority to certain ministries?
Zhang: There is no such specially mentioned audit of
particular ministries in the report this year. It was just routine
work.
OOW: The perceived problem is that even though we have
the audit, the punishment of those responsible is long delayed. The
State Administration of Forestry is an example: the ministries
involved have provided little or no response. What are your views
on this problem?
Zhang: The CPC Central Commission for Discipline
Inspection and Ministry of Supervision are drafting punitive
regulations to standardize their application.
OOW: Many people think that the National Audit Office
should be directly under the National People’s Congress. What do
you think of this?
Zhang: It is true that we have no enforcement authority,
like judicial departments have, when dealing with economic crimes.
Therefore, our work is restrained when handling important
cases.
The public security department can detain people; and the CPC
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has “Double
Discipline” (to tell the truth in the specific time and place), but
the audit office has no such authority.
OOW: Do audit departments frequently check into the
financial reliability of government and Party officials?
Zhang: One department of our office does that work. We
also audit leaders from both the government and the Party. We
conduct financial reliability examinations of ministerial and
provincial leaders, after being so entrusted by the Organization
Department of the CPC Central Committee.
OOW: Do you mean the audit mainly targets government
departments instead of individuals?
Zhang: Yes. We only examine the revenue and expenditure
of the organizations. If it involves individual economic crime, we
send them to supervision or judicial departments. We also punish
some departments, ordering them to return wrongly obtained funds
and fining them.
OOW: What is the role of the National Audit Office in the
anti-corruption campaign?
Zhang: It has several influences. First, its supervisory
function restrains the power of these entities in terms of revenue
and expenditure. Government departments have the right to make and
implement budget policies and distribute the budget. Second, our
work exposes major problems related to regulations and laws, and
helps uphold financial rules and regulations.
Auditing helps curb high-ranking officials’ corruption. The
disciplinary and supervisory bodies need our cooperation when
handling certain cases.
OOW: You examine and investigate others, but who
supervises you?
Zhang: First, we conduct our auditing and deal with
problems according to the law. Moreover, we regulate our staff.
Generally speaking, our auditing does not produce incorrect
results. We make everything clear and determine the nature in
accordance with the law. When the audit report comes out, we
discuss it with the audited units. If they have any objection, we
will audit once more. The Law Department of the National Audit
Office conducts a final review of our report.
OOW: Li Jinhua, when interviewed last year, revealed that
four high-ranking officials from the National Audit Office were
punished. What happened? Is there any new information this
year?
Zhang: The supervisory department or Party committee of
the National Audit Office should answer that question. I am only in
charge of auditing business. We enforce the laws strictly,
especially in the past two years. Auditor General Li Jinhua is very
strict with us. We pay close attention to this.
OOW: Some areas in China have made their auditing results
available to the public. Will this move spread across the
country?
Zhang: Local auditing institutions submit their reports
to the local governments. We only guide their work. We present to
the public the audit report in the form of a bulletin. This year we
have made two editions. Last year we made an audit bulletin about
funds for fighting against SARS. The audit report is usually
included on our website (http://www.cnao.gov.cn/),
except the confidential or classified portions.
OOW: This year’s report has created quite a stir. Many
people are applauding your office and condemning those that misused
funds.
Zhang: I think there have been more responses to the
audit report this year from the website and media than before. The
public acknowledges our work. They feel we contribute to better
management of state funds and retrieve losses for our country.
Furthermore, our work has also exposed some major illegal
practices. The audit has contributed to the reform of the economic
mechanism and to the development of the legal system. The public
has a lot of faith in us. They want us to intensify the auditing
supervision and widen the areas audited. We will try to live up to
the expectations of the people. Yet as our role is limited, we can
only stress the major points.
(The National Audit Office website at http://www.cnao.gov.cn/ is
available in both English and Chinese.)
(Oriental Outlook Weekly, translated by Guo Xiaohong,
Tang Fuchun and Ni Xiaoqiang for China.org,cn, July 12, 2004)