While the official figure was only a fraction of the total fund of RMB 9.6 billion ($1.23 billion) issued over the period, the auditors admitted that the scope of their investigations was limited to just a part of the Three Gorges region, and did not cover the way the money was spent in 2006. …

The problems are not limited to the Three Gorges, or to the direct misappropriation and embezzlement of funds. In Sichuan Province, the local government was accused of misusing state fund allocations during the construction of the Dujiangyan hydropower plant on the Min River.

Fan Xiao, a local geologist and campaigner, said that the local authorities had invested state relocation funds on the improvement of a section of highland, where the bulk of the migrants were expected to settle down. In the end, however, after declaring the land unsuitable for human habitation, the government sold off the properties to a third party, earning big profits. … Read the full story.