(December 30, 2009) BEIJING: China’s auditor has found that 234.7 billion yuan (US$34.37bil) in public funds was misused in the first 11 months of 2009, with much of that tied to China’s massive stimulus package, the Caijing magazine said on Monday.

China last year launched a 4 trillion yuan stimulus package to stave off a sharp drop in demand for Chinese exports, of which about a quarter came from central government coffers, while some of the rest was made up of local government funding for projects.

The audit office in September said it would conduct special checks on that spending

“In the course of raising domestic consumption, some of the allotted money never reached its destination, and some local funds were not properly managed and regulated,” Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office, told a conference in Beijing.

Liu said next year’s audit would particularly focus on government debt issuance, particularly local government financing, Caijing reported.

Other problems identified this year included land irregularly acquired for projects, buildings that didn’t meet environmental guidelines and “obvious” problems of industrial overcapacity.

The Star Online, December 30, 2009

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From the Irish Times – Corrupt officials blamed for China’s €24bn shortfall

Further Reading:

A Damned Dam

‘Massive corruption’ on world’s biggest construction site