Ministry to probe swindling of state research funds

China's Ministry of Education will launch a special inspection campaign to investigate misappropriation of state research funds, the ministry said on Thursday.

The initiative was announced via the ministry's official WeChat account, just days after the arrest of four professors raised eyebrows over corruption in China's scientific research system.

The four were among seven professors from five Chinese universities who, according to the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, swindled over 25 million yuan (4 mln US dollars) of state funds.

One of the scientists arrested, Li Ning, a leading scientist in transgene biology and a member of the elite Chinese Academy of Engineering, is suspected of misappropriating state funds intended for his research project on new transgene biological species.

The ministry did not specify when the inspection will be launched or how exactly it is to be carried out, saying only that inspectors will scrutinize the use of state funds at 30 Chinese universities under the administration of the Education Ministry, focusing on one each week.

China spent 1 trillion yuan, or about 1.97 percent of GDP, on research and development in 2012, and the figure surpassed 2 percent for the first time in 2013. Much of the money has been misused, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).

The ministry conducted a similar inspection in the first half of 2013, it said.