Deputy auditor general of China's National Audit Office, Sun Baohou, says the new guideline will help ensure public funds are not misused amid major policy shifts.
"We have to see if it's used properly, for example, whether the three public expenses are misused, or saved. Then we look at its effectiveness, whether they have minimized the costs. Further, we check on the results, did they have things done, are problems resolved, and is it beneficial to the public."
According to the guideline, audits of major projects concerning people's livelihoods will be strengthened, including disaster relief, affordable housing construction, poverty elimination and environmental protection.
Auditing work will also be intensified to detect potential problems in sectors such as finance, state assets, energy, resources, or any sector where corruption has been a problem.
Sun Baohou says one of the highlights of the guideline is that it rules auditing should covers public works.
"Previously, auditing only targeted state-owned assets, state-owned enterprises, and leaders of those enterprises, especially to review their financial performance. But now auditing also covers all public works along with state-owned assets and resources."
But Sun also points out some problems in the auditing process.
He says some companies and government departments are not cooperative when being audited, either reluctant to provide books and accounts, or even producing fake records.
In this regard, the new guideline has made clear the obligation of the objects of auditing.
Head of Scientific Research Institute under the National Auditing Office, Cui Zhenlong.
"They should be open to supervision from the auditing bodies, and provide all necessary documents, which includes not only account books and vouchers, but also relevant business data."
President of the Financial Research Institute of Central University of Finance and Economics Wang Yongjun says this enhances the authority of auditing bodies.
"The authority of these auditing bodies should be respected. Every department and unit has to support auditing works. It is uNPRecedented that the guideline has made the obligations clear. This will pave the way for better auditing work in the future."
The guideline notes auditing in the future will focus on the relocation of fiscal funds, approval of major investment programs, large-scale procurement, and state asset transfer among others.
For CRI, I'm Cao Yuwei.
