Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 25 Title: National Audit: 2023 Annual "Economic Physical Examination" Report Issued

Zou Duowei, reporter of Xinhua News Agency

Audit is like physical examination, which is not only to check the disease, but also to "cure the disease and prevent the disease".

In 2023, the budget implementation audit of the central department found various problems worth 22.626 billion yuan, and in 2023, the audit found and transferred more than 310 clues to major violations of discipline and laws

On the 25th, Hou Kai, the Auditor General of the National Audit Office, was entrusted by the State Council to deliver the State Council's Report on the Audit of the Implementation of the Central Budget and Other Fiscal Revenue and Expenditure in 2023 to the 10th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, which was a comprehensive "inspection" of the government's economic operation in the year of complete audit.

The "economic physical examination" is held every year. How is it different this year?

——Wider coverage

"In the past year, audit supervision has given consideration to both quality and efficiency, focused on eliminating blind spots and blind spots in supervision, and promoted full coverage of audit in high quality." Lin Hai, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the National Audit Office, told reporters that this year's report covers the audit of more than 140 places, departments and units, in addition to the audit of "traditional projects" such as central financial management and budget implementation of central departments, It also involves key livelihood funds, management of state-owned assets, major violations of discipline and laws, etc.

According to Lin Hai, on the one hand, audit should supervise all local, departments and units that manage and use public funds, state-owned assets and state-owned resources to form a regular and dynamic deterrent; On the other hand, we should strive to audit a field or unit, and reveal the most serious and prominent problems to form a substantial deterrent.

This year's report highlights development concerns:

Focus on preventing and resolving local debt risks, management of four types of state-owned assets and other key links and risk hazards in key areas;

In response to the people's urgent needs and anxieties, the audit focused on five livelihood funds, including education, employment, rural revitalization, rural construction, and stable production and supply of livestock and aquatic products;

Pay close attention to the unhealthy tendencies that occur at the grass-roots level and around the masses, resolutely investigate and deal with "fly corruption and ant corruption", ensure the safety of financial funds, and strictly enforce financial discipline.

——Reveal deeper problems

From the audit results, in 2023, the overall effect of the central financial management is good, and major violations of discipline and laws in the implementation of the budget of the central departments at the same level are basically eliminated.

However, the implementation of policies to promote stable foreign trade under the main audit projects is not precise and strict enough, the measures related to investment expansion are not effectively implemented, the festivals, forums and exhibitions have increased the burden on the grassroots, and the village planning is inconsistent with the actual situation and other specific problems still exist in some places.

The report also paid full attention to the investigation and treatment of major violations of discipline and law: since May 2023, more than 310 clues of major violations of discipline and law have been found and transferred in the audit, involving more than 1200 people.

"Check" is not the purpose, "change" is the key. The "second half article" of audit rectification is as important as the "first half article" of revealing problems, which must be promoted as a whole.

From the perspective of audit, there are some problems in the economic and social development, including the reasons why the system and mechanism are not perfect and perfect, and also related to the weak awareness of financial law and discipline, the lack of the spirit of taking responsibility, the lack of ability, and the lack of implementation of reform and development measures in some local areas.

In this regard, the report puts forward a series of audit recommendations with strong operability. For example, for the local debt risk, it proposes to improve the penetration monitoring of special bond projects; For all kinds of violations of financial discipline, we proposed to carry out special rectification, investigate and expose a number of cases according to laws and regulations

As of April this year, 1.07 trillion yuan has been rectified against the problems found in the 2022 annual audit, more than 2840 rules and regulations have been formulated and improved, and more than 2820 people have been held accountable.

Audit connects the lifeline of the country at one end and the well-being of the people at the other. The audit institution will strengthen the tracking and supervision of the rectification of problems reflected in the report, and better promote the rectification of problems and safeguard the national account book and people's interests through the overall pattern of audit rectification by combining comprehensive rectification, special rectification and key supervision.