China revises law to better manage government money

Greater transparency in budget

The revised law introduces detailed provisions to ensure the public's access to government budget information.

"The old law did not have any provisions about public supervision. The provisions to improve budget transparency is another highlight of the revised law," said Wang Chaoying, head of the economic laws division with the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, at Sunday's press conference.

It asks government financial departments to publish their budgets and final account reports within 20 days after they are adopted by the legislature. It also gives the public access to information about local government debts, purchases, budgets and audits.

The new law also clearly regulates how the legislature to examine the government budget report and what to examine. It specifically asks the legislature to examine major expense items and big investments as well as to inspect the development and efficiency of such projects.

Lawmakers also adopted several other important bills at the week-long bi-monthly session, including minor revisions to five laws facilitating the central government's ability to cancel or decentralize administrative approvals and a revision to the workplace safety law.

They adopted three resolutions. One was the decision on the election methods of the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and its Legislative Council.

The other two were about setting Sept. 30 as Martyrs' Day and setting up special courts for intellectual property rights in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

SAIC mandates broader disclosure by companies	Chinese govt to cut more administrative approvals