China pledges new audit measures to curb risks and stabilize growth

China has pledged to curb risks and stabilize economic growth by boosting auditing work to make sure the ruling party officials implement policy initiatives, state broadcaster CCTV reported late Tuesday.

Audits should focus on ensuring support and financing for the real economy, CCTV said, citing a Tuesday meeting of the Communist Party audit committee chaired by China President Xi Jinping.

Close attention should be paid to areas like local government debt, finance, property, food and energy in order to reduce systemic risks, the report said.

This comes as China is experiencing a tepid economic recovery after belatedly emerging from its zero Covid policy late last year.

China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the ninth month in May on Monday, despite the latest raft of April economic data that suggest growth in the world’s second-largest economy remains sluggish.

In March, China announced changes to the way it organized its financial regulators. It started a new body that absorbed its banking and insurance regulators— two financial institutions among the 25 that China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection sharply criticized early last year.