According to Hu Zejun, Auditor-General of the National Audit Office, speaking on March 19, not only state but also Communist Party of China institutions should be involved in the auditing system in order to enable it to play a more effective role in anti-corruption.

A guideline on improving the auditing system issued in December 2015 stipulated that auditing should cover public funds, state assets, national resources and officials. Hu's comment has further clarified the responsibilities of audit departments.

After audit departments discover economic inconsistencies within state and Party departments, the disciplinary inspection and supervisory departments will be responsible for dealing with them. The cooperation of the aforementioned departments has increased the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts.

As part of the ongoing institutional reform of the State Council, the inspection of major projects by the National Reform and Development Commission, supervision of the central budget by the Ministry of Finance and the auditing of the leaders of state-owned enterprises by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council have been merged into the National Audit Office, making the system more comprehensive and efficient while raising its credibility.

Use of the auditing system to bring money and power under control will improve the security of national governance. Auditing departments should have their ability to act independently guaranteed in accordance with the law without delay in order to build a comprehensive and effective auditing system.

A modern auditing system will help promote the modernization of state governance, its system and abilities. In the future, auditing departments should continue to restrict power and supervise the implementation of policies.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article published in Thepaper.cn on March 19)