The Ministry of Finance announced in Beijing on November 22 that 31 officials of 14 large breweries and distilleries were punished recently for violating accounting laws and regulations.

These persons have been dealt with according to administrative rules. Some have had their accountant licenses canceled and others may face criminal prosecution later.

This move shows the Chinese government's determination to combat the continuing problem of accounting fraud among corporations.

Fiscal supervisors whom the Ministry of Finance dispatched to local enterprises earlier this year have discovered many cases of the concealing of huge losses and false bookkeeping.

Some companies selling shares on the stock market have cheated investors by generating phony accountant statistics.

Ministry spokesman Wang Jun said that the central government has made special decrees calling for a crackdown on these illegal acts and severe punishment for those responsible.

After scrutinizing the accounting of 110 breweries and distilleries all over the country, the Ministry of Finance filed documents requesting that the relevant authorities punish or prosecute 29 persons from 19 companies. It also asked authorities to cancel the accounting licenses of eight people.

Wang said the ministry will continue to examine the accounting practices of other industries next year, and will make public the results of the examinations and punish the guilty.