PLA to get sweeping audit to root out problems

The Chinese military is gearing up for a sweeping audit of its income and expenditures over the past two years in a search for financial irregularities.

The Central Military Commission announced a plan on Wednesday that is expected take a year to examine areas such as budgeting, payment vouchers, military reception expenses and unbudgeted expenditures.

President Xi Jinping, who is chairman of the Central Military Commission, approved the plan.

The commission is leading the effort to root out embezzlement, improper transfers, reimbursements using fake receipts and various kinds of hidden slush funds.

The commission called for self-examinations in all departments before the checks by auditors at higher levels. It underscored the importance of establishing effective mechanisms to prevent violations of rules and discipline in the financial area.

The plan lays out penalties on financial irregularities and puts forward measures to improve the military's financial system. The commission also asked all departments to ensure the effectiveness of the audit and set deadlines and listed criteria for the quality of audit results.

A comment published on the commission's website said that financial violations had continued in the military despite the call for austerity from the central leadership in late 2012. It said a thorough cleanup of financial work will help the military to exercise self-discipline in fol-lowing the austerity rules.

The Chinese military introduced new rules to combat wasteful spending in early 2013. The rules require strict control of spending on non-essential infrastructure, procurement and official receptions, and they stress that spending should be focused on the military's core mission, such as for improving combat readiness.

More than 200 senior People's Liberation Army officers have been disciplined for problems exposed by military auditors over the past two years.

A total of 4,024 officers with the rank of lieutenant colonel or above, including 82 generals, were subjects of scrutiny by PLA auditors during that time.

Auditors also prevented 12.1 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) in military funds from being misused or wasted, the PLA said.