China to tighten audits of overseas state assets and SOE overseas investment

The National Audit Office of China will take flexible and effective measures to step up supervision of overseas state assets and foreign investment by State-owned enterprises (SOE), according to a speech delivered by Auditor General Liu Jiayi at the National Audit Work Conference on Dec 29.

The new measures are intended to meet the demands presented by "going global" and other major national strategies, protect the security of overseas state assets, and improve the international operation and risk prevention capacity of corporations, Liu explained.

"We will continue the audit work on external aid and foreign loans as well," Liu said.

From January to November 2016, the National Audit Office inspected nearly 100,000 agencies and submitted more than 170,000 audit reports. Over 360 billion yuan ($51.8 billion) was saved, and 2,500-odd regulations were established.

The office also transferred more than 3,700 cases of serious misconduct to relevant authorities. Out of the 20,000 officials that have been audited, 73 cadres and 838 other personnel have been sent to the judiciary or discipline supervision commission.