Background
Li Jinhua was born in 1943, Rudong, Jiangsu, China. Li came from a humble background, being born to a pastry cook in Rudong, Jiangsu Province. His mother died young and he was raised by his aunt.
金华 李
Li Jinhua was born in 1943, Rudong, Jiangsu, China. Li came from a humble background, being born to a pastry cook in Rudong, Jiangsu Province. His mother died young and he was raised by his aunt.
In 1965 and graduated from the Central Institute of Finance and Banking with a bachelors degree in economics the next year. After graduation, Li was sent to teach at the Northwest China Institute of Economics and Finance in Shaanxi Province for three years.
In 1971, he was appointed to the post of accountant at Number 572 Aircraft Factory, directly under the Ministry of Aeronautics Industry. He rose through the ranks to hold several consecutive titles, including head of finance, deputy secretary of the factory’s party branch, and factory director. In 1983, Li was admitted to the Party School of the CCP Central Committee, a training ground for the country’s highest political bodies, where he studied for two years while maintaining his other posts and becoming director general of the Economy and Trade Department of Shaanxi Province.
Li joined the National Audit Office in 1985 as deputy auditor general. The office was then a two-year old ministry under the State Council, and Li served there for 13 years. In 1998, Li was appointed auditor general, a five-year term which was renewed in 2003. He replaced Guo Zhenqian. In 1999, Li published the first public audit of China’s top ministries, revealing that up to 43 central government departments had misappropriated more than RMB3.12 billion.
Li believes the auditing office to be the ‘watchdog’ of a country and promotes the ‘sunshine policy’ of increased reporting and transparency. He hopes auditing can serve as a source of feedback for the sociopolitical system in general. In Li’s opinion, the best cure for bureaucratic stagnation and corruption is to report audit findings directly to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and targeting and reforming those who make his ‘audit list’ is an important step in China’s transformation to a society under the rule of law.
Li joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1965 .
In 2004, Li criticized four government departments and started what the media dubbed a nationwide ‘auditing storm’ that sparked numerous audits of other organizations. Before Li’s public auditing reports, the National Audit Office was almost unknown. Yet he does not take personal credit for the influence of his audits, claiming that it is only the government’s determination to publicly identify its own shortcomings that gives his audits power. Li’s modesty and down-to-earth style are part of his charm. According to him, the key factor to the success of his reports is the central government’s willingness to support his work without interference. He claims to receive no ‘unofficial notes’ (secret orders) from superiors about how to do his job and has indicated that just about any capable person could publish his report with similar effect. Li believes this is part of a larger trend of government departments becoming more open, especially in matters concerning public funds.