China trimmed 19.6 billion yuan of inefficient investment in projects across the country through auditing last year, said Li Jinhua, auditor-general of the National Audit Office (NAO), at the annual auditing work conference Monday.

Auditors found 9.2 billion yuan wasted in 27,000 projects and helped save and recover another 14.3 billion yuan.

Last year, auditing bodies at or above provincial levels devoted nearly 40 percent of their work to examining the efficient use of funds in projects including the Olympic venues, Three Gorges Project and National Grand Theatre, as well as projects in such fields as ecological and environmental protection, social security and use of foreign capital, according to Li.

He said the audits were aimed at wiser use of funds and better management of projects.

The country's overall auditing work on efficiency is still at an initial stage and lacks unified standards and mature methods, with the current work focusing on unveiling waste in specially selected projects, said Li.

Auditing agencies in 18 provincial governments and three cities have established a compulsory audit system for major investment projects.

The NAO plans to set up an efficiency auditing system suitable to the country's conditions by 2010.