Chinese auditors have started to scrutinize the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the Ministry of Railways in a nationwide campaign targeting monopoly industries.

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Auditors who moved into the CNPC in mid-March are examining the authenticity of accounts and the duties of top management in making significant decisions.

They would also be on the lookout for misconduct and transgression and inspect the company's assets management, deputy auditor-general Yu Xiaoming of the National Audit Office told Xinhua on Monday.

CNPC, China's largest oil and gas producer, was the first centrally-administered enterprise to come under auditing scrutiny this year. The other three to be audited are China Huadian Corporation, China Resources and the Harbin Power Equipment.

The Ministry of Railways, which dominates the country's railway transportation, has also been under scrutiny this month.

In this largest ever campaign since 1998, auditors would examine the ministry's budget implementation and the use of railway construction funds.

Also under scrutiny are 25 railway construction projects, five loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and the financial reports of both the ministry and three affiliated companies and 17 railway bureaus.

The audits, say commentators, indicate the Chinese authorities are showing the need to address the public concern about corruption in monopoly industries.

China's auditors found problems with the financial records of 6,997 SOEs last year, involving 28.14 billion yuan (3.7 billion U.S. dollars).

Fifteen of the SOE's were centrally administered, and their records revealed that 13.2 billion yuan (1.74 billion U.S. dollars) had been misused and 12 billion yuan (1.58 billion U.S. dollars) was tied up in non-performing assets.

A total of 363 cases, involving 5.3 billion yuan (697.37 million U.S. dollars), were referred for prosecution or to disciplinary inspection departments.

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