Chinese central authorities on Wednesday asked governmental departments to clean up their financial accounts and improve the handling of tax payers' money.

A statement from an executive meeting of the State Council, presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, said taxpayers' money managed by the government should be used for their services, not for personal or group interests.

Officials with China's Three Gorges project office, Finance and Agriculture Ministries, National Civil Aviation Administration, and National Development and Reform Commission submitted reports detailing their financial flaws.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has been releasing audit reports about governmental organs since June, detecting various problems. Some organs misused their power to collect fines and others violated the regulations of governmental budgets, the reports said.

The meeting proposed to amend the existing law on handling of water pollution, allowing for harsher punishment for illegal practices.

It also passed a draft regulation on civil nuclear safety supervision in principle, which is expected to ensure a safe running of China's civil nuclear establishments and prevent accidents.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)