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 (中国移动通信集团公司), the world's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, and two of China's five state-owned power producers, China Guodian Corporation (中国国电集团公司) and China Huaneng Group (中国华能集团公司).

Wei Qiang (魏强), 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  (国家核电技术有限公司)
State Development & Investment Corporation (国家开发投资公司)
China Publishing Group Corp. (中国出版集团公司)
Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (中国商用飞机有限责任公司)
China Grain Reserves Corporation (中国储备粮管理总公司)
China National Aviation Holding Company (中国航空集团公司)
China Mobile Communications Corporation (中国移动通信集团公司)
China Minmetals Corporation (中国五矿集团公司)
China Guodian Corporation (中国国电集团公司)
China Huaneng Group (中国华能集团公司)

Three State-owned Banks Audited
China Construction Bank (中国建设银行股份有限公司)
Agricultural Bank of China (中国农业银行股份有限公司)
The Export-Import Bank of China (中国进出口银行)

Links and Sources
China News Agency: 审计署：建行农行进出口银行2011年违规放贷245亿
Economic Observer Online: China Mobile Corruption Scandal Continues to Unfold
National Audit Office: List of All the Reports