Starting in January next year, China will audit military officers with the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher who are in charge of army finance work, according to a regulation issued Wednesday by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The new rule requires that senior military officers be audited when they have held a post for two years, are scheduled to leave a post or are being evaluated.

The military's auditing office will set up a special team in charge of departments of auditing, personnel, accounting and discipline inspection. The audits will cover annual budgets, final accounts, other accounting work, income statements and balance sheets.

The PLA Audit Office will audit top officers of all seven military area commands across the country.

In the civilian sector, the National Audit Office (NAO) audits government departments and large state-owned enterprises.

Earlier this year, the NAO issued reports indicating that it had found instances of financial malpractice in the ministries of railways, personnel and land and resources, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2004)