CHINA’S National Audit Office uncovered slow progress on dozens of railway, water, and housing projects, besides inflated investment reported by subsidiaries of China Railway Corp., the auditor said late Thursday.

    The top auditor found the firm’s actual investment in seven projects was 1.21 billion yuan (US$183.61 million) lower than the figure it had reported, the auditor said in a monthly report on its website.

    It also found that 1.65 billion yuan of State funds were not used according to plans. While the northeastern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin did not adequately examine and verify State funds, the report also said several parties used deceptive means to apply for 90.44 million yuan in State funds.

    Among 66 new railway projects whose feasibility studies had already been approved, 42 had not started construction, with an annual investment of 10.08 billion yuan, the report said.

    More than 8,000 affordable housing units completed more than a year ago in northern Hebei, southwest Chongqing, northwest Shaanxi, and northeast Liaoning provinces have yet to be allocated for people to move in, it added.

    China’s challenges from stalled or delayed infrastructure projects have grown in recent years. A 2014 study by two economists affiliated with China’s State planner said the delivery rate of infrastructure projects had fallen to 60 percent over the past decade.

    (SD-Agencies)