Chinese auditors found 290 billion yuan (US$35.4 billion) of illegal funds during their auditing of 22,000 officials across the country in the first 11 months this year, sources said in Beijing on Monday.

Some 196 of the officials involved in violation of laws and regulations were dealt with by supervisory or judiciary organs, said the sources with a national audit conference which opened in Beijing on Monday.

Next year, the audit authority will scrutinize some of the branch offices of the Bank of China, Bank of Communications and China Merchants Bank.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2005)