Article 40 After an audit to the auditing matters, an audit team shall hand in an audit report to the auditing organ. Prior to handing in the audit report, the audit team shall solicit the opinions of the entity being audited. The entity being audited shall, within ten days as of the receipt of the audit report of the audit team, hand in its opinions in written form to the audit team. The audit team shall hand in the aforesaid written opinions together with the audit report to the auditing organ.

Article 41 An auditing organ shall review the audit report handed in by the audit team in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the National Audit Office, and present an audit report of its own after concurrently studying the opinions of the entity being audited about the audit report delivered by the audit team. It shall, under its statutory jurisdiction, make a decision on audit or give its suggestions on disposition and punishment to the relevant competent authorities for an act of fiscal or financial revenues and expenditures violating the provisions of the state that deserves disposition or punishment.

An auditing organ shall serve the audit report and audit decision of its own to the entity being audited and the relevant competent organ or entity. The audit decision shall go into effect as of the date of service.

Article 42 If an auditing organ at a higher level considers that an audit decision made by an auditing organ at a lower level has violated the relative provisions of the State, it may order the auditing organ at the lower level to make alteration or cancellation on the aforesaid decision, and may directly make a decision on alteration or cancellation when it is necessary.

Chapter VI Legal Liabilities

Article 43 If an entity under audit violating any provisions prescribed in this Law by refusing or delaying the provision of the materials about audit matters, providing untrue or incomplete materials, or refusing or impeding the inspection, it shall be ordered to make corrections, given a criticism by circulating a notice and given a warning by the auditing organ. If the entity under audit refuses to make corrections, it shall be called to account in accordance with the law.

Article 44 Where an entity being audited violating the provisions prescribed in this Law by transferring, concealing, altering or destroying any accounting vouchers, accounting accounts, financial accounting reports or other materials pertinent to government or financial revenues and expenditures, or transferring or concealing the assets obtained by violating the provisions of the State, and if the auditing organ considers that the principal and other persons held to be directly responsible should be given sanctions, the auditing organ shall give suggestions for punishment. The entity being audited or the organ at the higher level and the supervisory organ shall make a decision in a timely manner, and notify the result to the auditing organ in written form. If a crime is constituted, the entity being audited shall be called to account in accordance with the law.

Article 45 Where any other department (including subordinate entities) at the same level or the government at the lower level commits the acts against the budget or other acts of government revenues and expenditures against the provisions of the state, the auditing organ, the people誷 government or the relevant competent authorities shall, under its statutory authorities and in the light of the laws and administrative regulations, take the following measures on the basis of the specific situation:

(1) Ordering it to pay the money that should be turned over within the time limit;

(2) Ordering it to return the occupied state-owned assets within the time limit;

(3) Ordering it to refund the illegal incomes within the time limit;

(4) Ordering to handle the matter in the light of the relative provisions in the unified national accounting system; and

(5) Other measures.