An auditing plan especially for Olympic construction shall come out in the first half of 2007, said Li Jinhua, auditor-general of the National Audit Office of China.

 

Auditing departments shall make efforts to check extravagance and help channel government funds to effective use, said Li on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of China's parliament.

 

The Chinese government has promised to host a "clean" Olympic Games. Liu Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, has vowed to step up anti-corruption efforts in the run-up to the Games.

 

Regarding the scandal of Liu Zhihua, former Beijing vice mayor who was stripped of his post and ousted from the Communist Party last year for graft, Li firmly denied any connection of Liu's case to Olympic projects.

 

Liu, 57, was accused of taking bribes and keeping mistresses. He had been in charge of overseeing construction, real estate, sports and traffic projects in the capital after being elected to the post in 1999.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2007)