国际英语新闻:Anti-corruption drive saves state-owned firm billions

BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Billions of yuan has been recovered by a state-owned enterprise (SOE) thanks to stricter auditing rules and bans on extravagance, the firm said Tuesday.

China Nuclear Engineering Group Co. (CNEC) said it had reclaimed 1.24 billion yuan (195 million U.S. dollars) that had been lent to outside parties by subsidiaries and affiliated companies, according to a statement by the the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

CNEC also clawed back more than 61 million yuan in overpaid salaries.

The inspection helped CNEC to realize that it was not "a pure land of peace and serenity."

"There were many serious problems and we could not afford to waste any time in fixing them," it said.

Several other major state-owned firms also released detailed statements on corruption and extravagance and the steps taken to address them.

China Huaneng Group, one of China's largest electric utility enterprises, said in a separate statement that new auditing measures had added more than 41 million yuan to its total revenues.

Huaneng also reduced its company car fleet by 233, vacated more than 2,900 square meters of excessive work space and disciplined 13 executives.

China Souther Power Grid (CSPG) said it has disposed of tea leaves and liquor and had banned the purchase of high-end cigarettes and drinks.

Reception expenditure of 2014 was cut down by 76.6 percent compared with that of last year, while conference expense was down 79.3 percent year-on-year, said CSPG.

The statements, part of the fallout of months of inspection by the CCDI on 26 state firms, were released after China issued a guideline on Sunday in which the CPC leadership and the State Council vowed to enhance state assets management, promote mixed ownership and prevent the erosion of state assets.

According to the guideline, supervision will be intensified both inside and outside SOEs to prevent abuse of power and the erosion of state-owned assets, and a mechanism for accountability will be established to track violation, including corruption and embezzlement.

Since the anti-corruption campaign was launched by President Xi Jinping, dozens of SOE executives have been investigated or jailed.