Beijing, Dec. 29 -- China's State auditors will extend their search for government corruption next year to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, probing the massive construction schemes being readied for the event.

    The audit could shine unprecedented light on the Beijing Olympic organizing committee which is overseeing the massive project of preparing the Chinese capital for the Games.

    "The Beijing Olympic organizing committee's income and expenses and the competition venue construction situation" would be among the five main audit subjects in 2006, Xinhua cited National Audit Office director Li Jinhua as saying Monday.

    Another project to come under the spotlight would be the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric power scheme, Xinhua said.

    Li has become a folk hero in China, where his office's annual reports on government finances have drawn attention to massive abuses.

    Audits for the first 11 months of this year uncovered misappropriation of US$36 billion of government funds, officials said this week.

    The Chinese Government is pumping a huge amount of money into the 2008 Olympics. The budget for venue construction stands at around US$2 billion even after organizers scaled back plans for some Games venues, including scrapping a retractable roof for the showcase "bird's nest" National Stadium.

    By 2008, Beijing expects to have spent a total of nearly US$40 billion on the Olympics, most of which will go to building new roads and subway lines and improving the city's power grid and environment.

    Next year's audit checks will not be the first time China's sports world has come under scrutiny.

    In September, the Audit Office said the General Administration of Sport collected 24 million yuan (US$2.97 million) in sponsorship funds which were never paid out.

    Its 2004 report revealed that between 1999 and 2003, the State sports administration had "misused" 131 million yuan of funds from China's National Olympic Committee, most of which went to building housing for administration staff.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)