May 10, 2013
Translated by Chi Yi
An audit into some of China's largest and most powerful state-owned enterprises revealed cases of mismanagement and economic crimes, according to thirteen reports released today by the country's National Audit Office (NAO).
The audits, which examined the 2011 financials of 10 companies under the control of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) and three state-owned banks, focused on the headquarters of these enterprises but also examined some of their subsidiary companies.
Companies audited included China Mobile Communications Corporation (中國移動通信集團公司), the world's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, and two of China's five state-owned power producers, China Guodian Corporation (中國國電集團公司) and China Huaneng Group (中國華能集團公司).
Wei Qiang (魏強), the head of the NAO's Enterprise Audit Department, told reporters that evidence suggesting economic crimes had been committed was discovered and that the NAO has reported these cases to the relevant departments for investigation.
Other problems related to mismanagement, poor oversight, innaccurate accounting and incomplete financial statements were also uncovered.
By the end of March, 70 people had been handed serious punishments for various violations, including 15 bureau-level officials.
In addition, the NAO ordered the companies to pay an extra 537 million yuan in tax.
An example of questionable spending is the 24 million yuan China Mobile spent on gym memberships for its employees from 2009 to 2011. The headquarters of China Mobile also spent 53 million yuan on computer rentals from 2005 to 2011, despite the computers being worth less than half that amount.
The NAO conducts audits into China's largest state-owned enterprises every year.
Ten Centrally-administered SOE Audited
State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (國家核電技術有限公司)
State Development & Investment Corporation (國家開發投資公司)
China Publishing Group Corp. (中國出版集團公司)
Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (中國商用飛機有限責任公司)
China Grain Reserves Corporation (中國儲備糧管理總公司)
China National Aviation Holding Company (中國航空集團公司)
China Mobile Communications Corporation (中國移動通信集團公司)
China Minmetals Corporation (中國五礦集團公司)
China Guodian Corporation (中國國電集團公司)
China Huaneng Group (中國華能集團公司)
Three State-owned Banks Audited
China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行股份有限公司)
Agricultural Bank of China (中國農業銀行股份有限公司)
The Export-Import Bank of China (中國進出口銀行)
Links and Sources
China News Agency: 審計署：建行農行進出口銀行2011年違規放貸245億
Economic Observer Online: China Mobile Corruption Scandal Continues to Unfold
National Audit Office: List of All the Reports
