Chinese lawmakers try to head off land sale irregularities
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-06-29 14:01
Chinese lawmakers have suggested that land sale incomes collected by local
governments should be incorporated into their budgets to prevent corruption and
uncontrolled spending, the China Youth Daily said Thursday.
Discussing an annual audit report, the lawmakers said the move would stop
local governments from spending unaccountably on fixed-asset investment and
urban infrastructure projects.
The huge income from land sales and rentals had enabled local governments to
spend heavily on big and inappropriate projects, a major factor in the
overheating of the economy, said Zhou Zhengqing, a member of the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress.
Lawmaker Huang He said land sale and rentals accounted for 10 percent of the
government's fiscal revenue. Most local governments failed to incorporate this
revenue into their budgets so they could spend the money without control and
supervision from central authorities, he said.
Since they had the total control over the money, local governments had a
strong motivation to sell land, the lawmakers said.
The annual report by the auditor general released Wednesday indicates that of
the 87 development zones audited last year, 60 were selling land at
inappropriately low prices.
Several other lawmakers said the lack of proper controls over the spending of
land sale revenues had led to rampant corruption.
Lawmaker and former Railway Minister Fu Zhihuan said the government should
look at how to improve the management of land sale revenues starting from this
year.
Any new policy must give the legislative body a greater say in the management
of the money, he said.
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