A total of 2.18 billion yuan (US$272 million) in misused public funds was uncovered during the 2005 auditing of government spending and accounts of state-owned enterprises, Shenzhen's audit bureau said.

Minor irregularities were also discovered in the spending of 14 billion yuan last year, the city's top auditors told a meeting Monday. They also said many government-funded projects did not invite public bidding, leading to suspicions of under-the-table deals.

However, the bureau did not provide any details of the wrongdoings.

This followed reports last week that 16 government officials have been punished for financial irregularities exposed in the 2004 audit. More than 1.5 billion yuan of budget expenditure for 2004 was found to be misused or could not be clearly explained.

Tan Guoxiang, vice secretary of the municipal committee of the CPC, told the Monday meeting that auditing results will be included in government officials' performance reviews, which can be used to decide whether an official is to be promoted or demoted.

The city's auditors said they would focus on checking the account books of the state-owned enterprises this year.

(Shenzhen Daily January 25, 2006)