The central government has underlined its determination to get tough on State-owned infrastructure planning departments by recruiting the National Audit Office to monitor the progress of major local-level projects.

Citing sources within the NAO, the Xinhua-affiliated Economic Information Daily reported on Friday that Beijing had ordered the office to carry out progress checks every quarter.

Previously known for its traditional role of auditing the finances of local governments and State-owned enterprises and spotting potential power abuse by officials, the NAO's first week-long project audit was completed in April and a second is expected to be held imminently.