【09.12.30 印度时报】Chinese officials embezzled $35m in just 11 months

青蛙小王子

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Chinese-officials-embezzled-35m-in-just-11-months/articleshow/5393484.cms

SHANGHAI: Chinese officials misused or embezzled about $35 billion in government money in the first 11 months of the year, according to a national  audit released this week.

The announcement is the latest indication of how widespread corruption has become among government agencies and how difficult it will be for Beijing to root out.

The National Audit Office, which carried out the examination, did not disclose the size of the budgets reviewed this year. But the agency, which is based in Beijing, said it surveyed nearly 100,000 government departments and state-owned companies, and that over 1,000 officials were facing prosecution or disciplinary action because of the audits.

Auditors said government officials engaged in everything from money laundering and issuing fraudulent loans to cheating the government through the sale or purchase of state land or mining rights.

"Criminals are now more intelligent, and covert," Liu Jiayi, the head of the National Audit Office, said. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao hailed the work of the auditors on Tuesday and called on them to monitor government projects and prevent waste.

But analysts say the Communist Party faces significant hurdles in trying to root out corruption. Every year, Beijing announces new anti-corruption drives, new laws and new policies aimed at dealing with the problem. But every year the scale of fraud seems massive, particularly in a country where the average person earns less than $50 a week.

In 2005, the National Audit Office reported finding about $35 billion worth of government funds misused or embezzled. That was the last year the office gave a national figure covering its audits.