The Commission of Audit (CA) recently held a training event on performance audit. CA invited the deputy director of the Department of Non-Profit Government Agencies Audit of China National Audit Office (CNAO), Chang Li, and Yu Li, division head of the same department, to conduct a seminar, during which they, connecting theories to real cases, imparted and shared CNAO’s experiences in performance audit with auditors of CA.

Performance audit aims to examine the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of the Government’s performance. Comparing to the traditional audit on income and expense, performance audit focuses more on improving management and effectiveness of the audited entities.

The seminar “Performance audit”, held on September 5 and 6, was organized with the strong support of CNAO. The trainers made an overview on the results achieved by the financial audits and the gradual introduction of performance audits and addressed the more important tasks for the development and improvement of performance auditing in China. The trainers also shared expe¬riences gained in conducting performance audits articulated with other types of audits. Chang Li and Yu Li were very attentive by their teaching and held in-depth exchange of ideas with the more than twenty trainees on practices and methods of performance auditing. The experience accumulated by CNAO over 20 years in implementing performance auditing justified the invitation to conduct the just finished seminar, through which CA’s auditors could become acquainted with the advanced knowledge and experience in performance audit on big projects carried out on the mainland China and thereafter improving their own procedures on planning and proofs collecting so that their audit works could leap onto a higher level of quality, as well as becoming more updated on the newest developments in performance audit on national and international levels.

During their stay in Macau, Chang Li and Yu Li met with the Commissioner of Audit Ho Veng On. Both parties exchanged experience in managing financial and performance auditing projects. In the meeting, Ho Veng On also expressed sincere thanks to CNAO for its great support toward the personnel training of CA, namely by offering precious training opportunities which have been very effective for the development of CA’s personnel. Both parties also agreed on the crucial importance of personnel training for the development of CA, whose professional competencies structure and knowledge need a long term planning since they still have a long way to go. Auditing works demand rigour and responsibility, which in turn demands auditors to timely renew and upgrade their knowledge and skills.

CA will continue committed to maintain close ties with CNAO and also will continue to conduct trainings in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its audit works.