China plans to carry out economic accountability audits of secretaries of provincial Party committees over the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), according to a statement on the website of the National Audit Office (NAO).

Economic accountability audit refers to a kind of audit supervision mechanism that aims to supervise and evaluate how the leading Party and government officials and leaders of state-owned enterprises perform their economic accountability during their terms of office, including how to manage and utilize public funds, national resources, state capital and social funds which fall into their jurisdiction.

Sun Baohou, auditor-in-chief at the NAO, said 180 out of 200 countries and regions in the world have established audit institutions, but China is the only one that carries out economic accountability audits.

Since China started the exploration of economic accountability audit in 1980s, more and more leaders have been subject to the audit.

In May 1999, the State Council formulated Provisional Rules Governing Economic Accountability Audit over Party and Government Leaders at or below County Levels for Their Terms of Office and Provisional Rules Governing Economic Accountability Audit over Leading Persons of State-owned Enterprises and Enterprises with State Capital Controlling Their Shares for Their Terms of Office. That indicated that only Party and government leaders at or below county levels and legal representatives of state-owned and state-holding enterprises needed to be audited at the time.

Prefecture-level officials began accepting economic accountability audits in 2005. The country also started a pilot audit of provincial-level officials in 2000. As of last year, China's audit authorities have audited 53 ministers and governors, and 37 of them were audited over the past two years.

The launch of the pilot economic accountability audits of provincial-level leaders gained experience and also laid a foundation for the extension of the audits to all provincial-level cadres, Sun said.

In December 2010, the State Council formulated Regulation on Audit of Economic Accountability for Leading Party and Government Officials and Leaders of State-owned Enterprises, which indicated that officials from county level to provincial level and legal representatives of state-owned enterprises should accept economic accountability audits.

According to the guidelines on China's 2011-2015 audit work issued Friday by the NAO, the government will start the exploration of economic accountability audit of secretaries of provincial Party committees in the years to 2015, while popularizing audits of secretaries of county Party committees and prefectural Party committees and further optimizing of the system of economic accountability audit.

The extension of the audits to secretaries of provincial Party committees showed the country's determination to combat corruption and build a clean government. The audits are also expected to make officials observe law and discipline and properly use the power empowered by the people and the Party, analysts said.

In 2010, China audited 36,900 officials, and found some of the audited officials were directly liable for the misuse of 24.9 billion yuan (3.83 billion U.S. dollars). Eighty-two officials involved in irregularities were referred to inspection authorities and judicial organs.

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