Article 1    These Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Audit Law of the People's Republic of China and the Provisional Practice Directions for  Administrative Information Service laid down by  the State Council for the purpose of promoting audit information service and improving the quality of audit information service.

Article 2    Major tasks of audit information service are to disclose significant information about audit work and material problems discovered in the course of audit, exchange audit experience and methodologies, publicize functions and achievements of audit, provide relevant service for management decision-making, help audit institutions fulfill their instructing function and enhance the social influence of audit.

Article 3    Audit information service must adhere to the basic line of the Party and the principle of being practical and realistic.

Article 4    Audit information service shall vary at different levels.  Audit institutions at various levels shall regard the people's governments at their corresponding levels and audit institutions at the next higher levels as the priorities of their information service but shall also exert efforts to serve the people's governments at the next higher levels and their competent departments as well as audit institutions at lower levels.

Article 5    Audit information service shall center around the central tasks of national economic work and the priorities, difficulties and topical issues in the financial and economic activities and shall reflect, through audit and audit investigations, new problems and new phenomenon emerging in the process of developing audit and establishing the socialist market economy.

Article 6    Various audit institutions shall reinforce their leadership of audit information service for the purpose of improving such service by raising appropriate requirements, assigning tasks, carrying out organization and coordination, supporting and instructing organizations in charge of audit information service to perform their integrated functions.

Article 7    The CNAO shall be responsible for instructing audit information service of the national audit system.

Audit institutions at various levels and their dispatched offices shall appoint organizations to take charge of audit information service and strengthen their management of such services.

Article 8    Organizations in charge of audit information service shall fulfill the following major duties and responsibilities:
(1) To research for and formulate plans for audit information service and organize the implementation of such plans on the basis of the general guidelines and policies of the Party and the state and in combination with the overall work layouts of the respective localities and departments;
(2) To carry out successful collection, screening, processing, transmission, feedback and storage of information;
(3) To organize investigation and research of special topics for further information in combination with central tasks of  governments at various levels, priorities of audit and issues of great concern to various leaders as well as important messages discovered in relevant information;
(4) To provide information service for governments at the corresponding levels and audit institutions at higher levels;
(5) To organize and carry out exchanges of experience in audit information service so as to understand and instruct audit information service of audit institutions at lower levels;
(6) To organize professional training for employees engaged in audit information service of audit institutions at the corresponding and lower levels;
(7) To organize publicity and reportage of audit information service.

Article 9    Audit information network is the basis for audit information service while stations responsible for directly reporting information to the CNAO are structural parts of such networks.  Audit institutions at various levels shall establish and perfect their audit information networks according to their specific conditions and requirements.

Article 10    Audit information teams shall consist of full-time and part-time members engaged in audit information service.  Organizations in charge of audit information service of audit institutions at various levels shall recruit full-time employees to carry out audit information service, the number of which shall be determined according to specific working requirements but shall fall within the stipulated staffing scales of such organizations.

Article 11     Local audit institutions at various levels shall submit information in time to the people's governments at their corresponding levels and audit institutions at higher levels.  Various departments and dispatched offices of the audit institutions shall submit information in time to the audit institutions at their corresponding levels.  Where  audit institutions at higher levels require information from audit institutions at lower levels, the latter shall submit relevant information to the former strictly in accordance with the requirements.

Article 12    Organizations in charge of audit information service of audit institutions at higher levels shall issue regular notifications to audit institutions at lower levels briefing the latter about their adoption of the submitted information and suggesting focuses of information submission according to actual situations for reference of the latter.

Article 13    Where necessary, audit institutions shall organize discussions and exchanges of experiences related to audit information service among themselves and shall share information resources under the condition that confidentiality is strictly preserved according to the law.

Article 14    Information submitted to audit institutions at higher levels by  audit institutions at lower levels must be reviewed, confirmed, signed and issued by major or competent leaders of the latter.

Article 15     Where audit institutions at higher levels utilize information which exposes existing problems and is submitted by audit institutions at lower levels, the latter shall be solicited for opinions about such utilization.

Article 16    Audit institutions at various levels shall practice the benchmarking system for audit information service and shall reward those organizations and individuals with distinctive achievements.

Article 17    Audit information shall satisfy the following requirements:
(1) Truthfulness and reliability of the reflected messages with information concerning material problems being confirmed before submission;
(2) Accuracy in the incidents, numbers and units contained in the information with standard titles being used for relevant units;
(3) Timeliness in submitting important information and information related to abrupt incidents with continuous submissions made where necessary;
(4) Being practical and realistic in the sense that both optimistic and pessimistic messages are included while fraudulent and prejudiced contents are avoided;
(5) Clear focus on main ideas, consistency between the title and the contents and succinct use of language;
(6) Creativeness in reflecting problems, mentalities and measures existing in audit work;
(7) Certain depth in reflecting situations and problems with the combination of description, analysis(both qualitative and quantitative), prediction and suggestion;
(8) Catering to the requirements of the decision-makers so as to provide the basis for better decision-making.

Article 18    Audit institutions at various levels shall accelerate the modernization of  means used in audit information service so that information may be processed, transmitted and stored accurately, safely and at a greater speed.

Article 19    The authority to interpret these Provisions rests with the CNAO.

Article 20    These Provisions shall come into effect as of January 1, 1997.