China’s government auditing agency alleged more than $1 billion was misappropriated in less than four months last year while constructing and running portions of a major electricity grid system, the latest sign the country’s anticorruption drive includes targets in the electricity-infrastructure business.
China National Audit Office said Monday that its probe into certain contracts for a west-to-east electricity transmission system uncovered theft and contract irregularities totaling 6.7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion); in some areas, the problems amounted to 16% of the value of the contracts reviewed. The audit considered certain spending last year from April to July, a brief period for a multiprovince project that began in 1993 and by this time last year had cost 179 billion yuan.
The graft allegations are the latest internal Chinese government findings that call into question financial controls over the country’s vaunted national engineering programs. Past probes found widespread corruption associated with building a high-speed railway project and venues to host the Beijing Olympic Games, findings that helped topple senior officials.
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James T. Areddy, The Wall Street Journal via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1lIsDxu
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