The China National Audit Office alleged on June 9, that more than US$1 billion was misappropriated in less than four months last year while constructing and running portions of a major electricity grid system.
It said its probe into certain contracts for a west-to-east electricity transmission system uncovered theft and contract irregularities totaling 6.7 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) and that in some areas the problems amounted to 16% of the value of the contracts reviewed. The audit considered certain spending last year from April to July, a brief period for a multiprovince project that began in 1993 and by this time last year had cost 179 billion yuan.