The National Audit Office (NAO) published on Monday its auditing report on government departments' use of public money from the State's budget in 2005.

Among the 42 scrutinized ministries and government-financed non-profit institutions, none is perfect.

This is not surprising, considering the national auditors' consistently strict attitude in their work.

On the other hand, we do have careless and even corrupt officials and government organs that fail to discipline themselves in financial matters. The auditors' work is meant precisely to spot irregularities and compel wrongdoers to improve.

The 60,000-word report reflected a phenomenon that needs special attention. About half the irregular practices disclosed by the auditors were committed not by the ministries themselves, but by the various types of institutions affiliated to the government organs: information centers, research institutes, foundations and lottery management centers.

The offences come in all sorts of forms. Public money was used to buy commercial insurance for staff, to pay for officials' overseas tours and to build hotels; fees that should have gone to State coffers were retained by the institutions that collected them; and procurements were conducted without open bidding, among others.

It is high time that the ministries tighten the reins on their affiliated institutions.

These institutions are often not targets of public attention. However, the money they use or manage also comes from the taxes or fees paid by the public for services.

The institutions' malpractice not only results in the waste of public money, but also damages the government's credibility.

The fact that even organizations under the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission misappropriate public funds will not only make people feel irony, but also damage the image of regulators in the government agencies themselves.

In fact, some of the malpractices were backed by the ministries themselves. For example, the Cultural Market Development Centre, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, collected 100 million yuan (US$12.5 million) by selling anti-counterfeit labels for audiovisual products; the NAO found the levy to be illegal.

It is our hope that the government departments will all act according to the NAO's recommendations. They themselves should first honor financial discipline, but also keep a watchful eye on the institutions under them.

(China Daily September 13, 2006)