More regulation, monitoring of money for poverty relief needed, experts say
Auditors urged government departments to further regulate the use of funds for helping the poor and improve the sharing of information to ensure that poverty alleviation is achieved.
A newly released audit report said that some local governments have improperly used special funds designated for lifting people out of poverty, and their anti-poverty measures have not worked effectively.
The report on the central government's budget enforcement and problem rectification for 2017 was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for review on Monday.
After problems with the use of poverty alleviation funds were exposed by auditors, local governments recovered about 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) that had been misappropriated and imposed 649 disciplinary punishments, the report said.
"For example, a fund of 5.4 million yuan for landscape improvement and wall painting in some areas was recovered and put to use after we urged local authorities to rectify the situation," Hu Zejun, head of the National Audit Office, said in explaining the report to lawmakers.
Some governments that provided false data about how many people were being lifted out of poverty have also taken rectification steps, such as disclosing bidding information and making construction processes more transparent, she said.
Because funds for relieving poverty in some areas were not applied properly to specific targets, regional authorities reclaimed the money and spent it optimally. They also handed down disciplinary punishments to officials who had abused the money, she said.
Hu added that the fight against poverty still needs to be intensified and suggested that government departments, including financial and disciplinary authorities, increase communications, efficiently share information related to poverty alleviation and join hands in supervision.
Lei Ming, director of the Institute on Poverty Research at Peking University, said the aimless use of poverty funds is a big problem.
"To fulfill poverty alleviation with precise targets, officials should first learn what the poor need. It will help them accurately allocate the money or choose the most suitable way for the poor to live better lives," he said.
He also applauded the audit report, adding that it is an effective tool for implementing policies against poverty and for getting governments to correct problems more quickly.
The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development said on Monday that more than 80 percent of underprivileged villages and half the remaining poor counties in China would be out of poverty by the end of this year.
President Xi Jinping's report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October last year identified defusing major risks, carrying out targeted poverty alleviation and preventing and controlling pollution as the three tough battles China must win.
