China hails more transparent gov't departments
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China's finance ministry said Saturday that 88 of the country's 98 central government departments had publicized their budgets by Friday, while more detailed data on spending for overseas travel, receptions and official cars will be unveiled in June.
The central government departments' budgets are becoming more transparent this year as more departments are publishing their budgets in a timely and detailed manner, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in a statement on its website.
The Ministry of Science and Technology published its annual budget on April 14, becoming the first ministry to do so this year.
Earlier this month, an executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, ordered that all 98 central government departments should publicize their budgets this year. Only 75 departments publicized their budgets in 2010.
The State Council also said that efforts must be made to enhance the "depth and scope" of government financial information that is released to the public.
The central government departments are also expected to publish detailed information concerning how much they have spent and are planning to spend on overseas travel, receptions, and official cars.
Expenditures on these three items have long been criticized as the largest sources of corruption and waste in government departments.
The MOF said it has already collected data regarding the amounts spent on the three items for 2010 and will submit a report to China's top legislature in June.
Upon receiving approval of the report from the legislature, the MOF and other departments will publicize their expenditures on the three items for 2010 alongside their planned spending for 2011.
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