SOEs ordered to bring in accountants

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been ordered to hire accounting firms to audit their books under new rules from the government's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The new law is aimed at controlling book-cooking, asset-stripping and other irregularities, the South China Morning Post reported. It is also expected to help in implementation of the government's performance-based rewards program for SOE managers, the paper said.