BEIJING, June 12 -- The Ministry of Education is planning to release the results of audits of university presidents' budgetary spending, in a move to make this process more transparent and efficient.

The proposal applies to universities directly administered by the ministry -- a group that includes the prestigious Beijing University and Tsinghua University -- and to those administered by ministry organs.

Education minister Yuan Guiren told a ministry meeting on Friday that releasing the results was "important in standardizing the exercise of university presidents' power".

In 2014, government spending on education accounted for more than 4percent of GDP, which stood at 63.6 trillion yuan (more than 10 trillion U.S. dollars).

Yuan said efforts must be made to improve the efficiency of government investment in education and prevent misuse of these budgets.

He proposed that an independent auditing agency be set up and that its remit should include overseeing major construction projects.