Chinese auditors recover $59b in Jan-Nov

BEIJING - China's top auditor said Monday that authorities recovered 380 billion yuan ($59 billion) in the first 11 months after auditing some 100,000 companies or institutions.

Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office (NAO), said at a conference that more than 2,100 items in government rules and regulations were formulated or revised based on audit reports in the same period.

Auditing authorities have been promoting efficient use of funds, smooth progress of projects and correction of malpractice, Liu said.

In the same period, the NAO conducted audits on more than 20,000 government officials, finding misused fund of more than 250 billion yuan and handing over 321 officials and related staff to judicial and discipline inspection authorities.

Since 2011, authorities have audited a total of 700,000 companies or institutions and retrieved over 1.7 trillion yuan, according to Liu.