SOE audits reveal widespread cheating

An inspection of audits from some of China's biggest state owned enterprises has found widespread cheating, including filing of incomplete reports, sizeable asset losses and outright fabrications, state media reported. The survey of 181 companies, none of which was named, found that 120 had submitted incomplete documentation and 13 had lied in their reports, Xinhua said. It added that 40 companies had lost more than 10% of their total assets in 2004, and another 40 had lost more than 20%. The survey comes as Chinese regulators try to tighten oversight of SOEs following a series of scandals involving unauthorized transactions, embezzlement and mismanagement.