China audit finds some provinces faked data

Beijing

CHINA found some local governments inflated revenue levels and raised debt illegally in a nationwide audit, a setback for Beijing in its bid to boost the credibility of economic data after a run of scandals.

Ten cities, counties or districts in the Yunnan, Hunan and Jilin provinces, as well as the south-western city of Chongqing, inflated fiscal revenues by 1.55 billion yuan (S$316.7 million), the National Audit Office said in a statement on its website dated Dec 8.