International Journal of Government Auditing –January 2010
People's Republic of China
Issuance of Guidance Document on Strengthening Resource and Environmental Auditing
To implement China’s policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment, the China National Audit Office (CNAO) published a guidance document entitled Recommendations on Strengthening Resource and Environmental Auditing.
The document points out the guiding principles, key tasks, and goals of natural resource and environmental auditing in China and requires audit institutions at all levels to be fully aware of the importance and urgency of these audits. It also calls on audit institutions to promote sustainable development in China. The document requires audit institutions at different levels to audit
- the exploitation, management and protection of land, mineral, forest, and water resources;
- the prevention and control of water, air, soil and solid waste pollution;
- the implementation of key eco-construction projects; and
- the protection of eco-fragile regions.
The document calls on audit institutions to explore new audit approaches and methodologies for natural resource and environmental auditing and to carry out pilot cooperative audits and life-cycle audits on cross-regional environmental issues, key resource exploitation and environmental protection projects, and the implementation of important natural resource and environmental management policies or strategic plans. The document also encourages audit institutions to carry out natural resource and environmental system audits using information technology. Audit institutions are to establish and improve their operational mechanisms for environmental auditing to promote an audit approach in China that is integrated with other specialized types of audit, such as audits of public finance, enterprises, investment, accountability, and foreign fund applications. In the meantime, the document recommends that audit institutions further strengthen their audit teams for environmental auditing and their research on environmental auditing theories through such means as institutional improvement, audit capacity building, and the use of external experts.
The document delineates important measures to be adopted for natural resource and environmental auditing and will advance the development of environmental auditing in China.
The Third Sino-African Audit Seminar was Held in China
The Third Sino-African Audit Seminar was held in China November 7–16, 2009 with 38 delegates from 19 French-speaking African countries in attendance. Fourteen participants were heads of SAIs.
The themes of the seminar were the role of governmental auditing in promoting good governance and audits of the environment and foreign funds. Participants exchanged ideas and experiences on these topics and held thorough discussions on them. The delegates were interested in the Chinese keynote speech discussing the role of governmental auditing as an “immune system” for the healthy operation of the national economy. In addition to the seminar, participants visited Xian and Beijing for field study of audits carried out by Chinese audit institutions.
For additional information, contact the CNAO:
E-mail: cnao@audit.gov.cn
Web site: www.audit.gov.cn