The 2016 meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt opened on July 5 in CNAO'sAudit Academy. As entrusted by Mr. LIU Jiayi, Auditor General of the National Audit Office of China(CNAO) and Chairman of INTOSAI, Mr. CHEN Chenzhao, Deputy Auditor Genenral of China attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. Mr. Roberto Salcedo Aquino, Deputy Auditor General of Mexico, chaired the meeting.

On the opening ceremony, CHEN Chenzhao conveyed to all participants the cordial greetings from Mr. LIU Jiayi. He pointed out in his speech that government auditing is a significant component of the system overseeing power, and an important cornerstone and safeguard of national governance system. It is incumbent on government auditingto reveal hidden dangers,prevent potential risks andmaintain national economic security.It is a statutory function of government audit institutions to audit public debtandpromote good national governance. CNAO has been following closely the scale and regulation of government debt in China, giving full play to the role of auditing as the booster of good national governanceand monitor of economic growth.Mr. Roberto Salcedo Aquino, Deputy Auditor General of Mexico,indicated in his address that as pointed in the Beijing Declaration, issued during the XXI INCOSAI, SAIs’ have a significant role to play in ensuringlong-term financial policies sustainability.

This meeting lasted for three days, and was attended by 31 representatives from 16 SAIs and international organizations(INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) and World Bank). The meeting discussed a series of professional working documents and products to be submitted to the XXII INCOSAI.