China's legislators in Beijing yesterday voted in favor of amendments to the Audit Law. The amended law, which comes into effect on June 1, aims to boost the country's efforts to clean up government administration.

The four-day 20th meeting of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee concluded yesterday,

Amendments to the law, which was passed in August 1994, were reviewed twice by the NPC Standing Committee. The amendments were made with the aim of "safeguarding the state's financial and economic order and improving the efficiency of the state budgetary fund."

Governments above county level are now required by law to provide auditing reports each year to the NPC.

The amended legislation also stipulates that governments should report on how they correct irregularities that might be found in auditing reports, according to Jiang Qiangui, vice-chairwoman of the Law Committee of the 10th NPC.

Jiang regarded the new requirement as important and necessary, given the fact that in the past some government departments merely "reported the problem", but failed to give the public any information on how that problem was addressed.

The amendment enlarges the scope of audits and increase auditors' law enforcement rights.

In the past, only state-owned enterprises fell within the auditing scope so as to guarantee that state assets would not be abused. The new law includes state holding companies and financial institutions.

The NPC Standing Committee also ratified yesterday the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

The convention spells out the definition of "terrorism financing crimes" and urges all signatory countries to prevent and fight these crimes through legislative, judicial and financial supervision means.

The convention gives signatory countries the power to charge those who are involved in financing terrorism. It also regulates international cooperation on repatriation and the provision of criminal judicial assistance among signatory countries, and sets out dispute resolution measures among signatory countries.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2006)