Since its establishment in 1983, the National Audit Office has largely been ignored by the media -- until recently.

An "audit storm," unleashed by Auditor-General Li Jinhua's report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress about a fortnight ago grabbed the attention of the media and the Chinese public.

The widespread abuse of public money by some government institutions, revealed by Li's report, continues to shock the nation.

And it seems the severity of the situation has whet the office's appetite further.

In an interview published by Wen Wei Po, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, Deputy Auditor-General Linghu An said that his office was mulling over a plan to make all of its audits public.

At present, the office only goes public with the report it submits to the national legislature every year.

The main cause of the rampant official misuse of the public money was a lack of transparency.

In terms of government budgets, the public is not adequately informed about how much and for what purposes the money will be used, let alone why and how budget decisions are made. Such a situation is a hotbed for corruption.

The audit office, serving as the government watchdog, is obliged by law to find out the ultimate destinations of all public money.

By making public their audit reports, citizens can gain a better understanding of how the money is being spent and in turn, scrutinize spending.

Such disclosure will spur government institutions into acting more transparently and increase their accountability.

Also, as a publicly financed government agency it should let the public know how it works.

Unless transparency and public scrutiny are embraced - showing that governments at all levels are accountable - corruption will continue unabated.

The audit office should be congratulated and emulated by other government agencies. The sooner, the better.

(China Daily July 6, 2004)