A recent circular issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) ordered the auditing of university heads beginning in 2007, according to Friday's China Youth Daily.

In the new regulations, the ministry calls on the university heads under the direct administration of the MOE to submit their audit reports regarding university budgets before they leave their posts.

All Chinese universities directly administered by the MOE are funded by the government. Analysts say the move is aimed at curbing corruption in universities after several embezzlement cases were uncovered recently in state universities.

In November 2006, former president of Tianjin University, Shan Ping, was removed from his position of deputy to the National People's Congress for his role in the school's loss of 100 million yuan (US$12.8 million).

Yang Yulin, CEO of a business group affiliated with Nankai University, was also removed from his post for embezzling 110 million yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2007)