China's top auditor has pledged tougher measures to crack down on public money being wasted.

 

Auditor-General of the National Audit Office Li Jinhua said China would launch a "consuming standard" for officials and the State Council was now looking at tougher regulations on how to audit the public purse more effectively.

 

"Checking on the losses and wasting of national finance funds, state assets and resources will be one of our work priorities in the future," Li said on the sidelines of the ongoing Fifth Session of 10th National People's Congress.

 

Li was apparently responding to growing calls from national legislators and political advisers to curb wasted funds.

 

Feng Pei'en, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee yesterday urged the government to take measures to control administrative costs, calling for the promulgation of a law against extravagance and waste.

 

The annual administrative expenditure per capita surged by 24 times from 1986 to 2005, and the growth rate was higher than that of the country's GDP per capita of the same period.

 

Feng suggested an act on government information disclosure be delivered so that taxpayers could oversee government expenditure.

 

The promulgation of a law against extravagance would also help the general public to be aware of the "crime of wasting public resources" and punishing those caught wasting public resources.

 

Political advisers yesterday also called for the establishment of trade unions among all foreign-funded enterprises to better safeguard the interests of employees.

 

"Foreign investment should absolutely not be encouraged at the cost of lowered working conditions and standards of employees, and the government should play a guiding role in coordinating employer-employee relations," said Zhang Guoxiang also at yesterday's session.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2007)