630 investigated in China audits

BEIJING - Authorities are investigating more than 630 people who allegedly committed economic crimes, the country's top auditor said Thursday.

During last year's audits, 175 cases involving serious violations of economic regulations were discovered and transferred to relevant departments, Liu Jiayi, auditor general of the National Audit Office (NAO), said at the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the nation's top legislature.

Some people were found to have engaged in rent-seeking related to administrative approvals, project construction, financial subsidies, lending and business management, Liu said in a report.

Some people profited by using non-public information related to mineral reserves, listed corporations and fund investment strategies, he said.

More than 5,000 companies or organizations were involved in illegal online banking operations, he added.

The audit office will seek to solve these problems and the State Council will report the situation to the Standing Committee of the NPC before the end of the year, Liu said.