A recently released audit report on the 26th Summer Universiade, which was held in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in August 2011, showed that the Shenzhen government had lost 12 billion yuan ($1.92 billion) by holding the event.

According to the report by the Shenzhen Auditing Bureau, it cost 13.99 billion yuan to hold the Universiade but total revenue was only 1.217 billion yuan. Venue construction was responsible for 7.52 billion yuan, safety measures required 4.49 billion and 1.986 billion yuan was spent on supporting projects.

The report mentioned several major problems with the way the project had been budgeted, such as a number of budget blowouts reaching as high as 12.74 million yuan. There were also 62 government procurement projects involving 11.32 million yuan that violated procurement laws.

The report was published three weeks after Guangdong authorities announced that former vice mayor of Shenzhen Liang Daoxing, who had been in office during the Universiade, was under investigation. He had been in charge of organizing the event from 2007 to 2011, and was suspected of using it for corrupt activities, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily.

Professor Liu Xiaobing, from the public finance department at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times that the problems highlighted in the Shenzhen Universiade report showed that China still lacks effective external mechanisms to encourage restraint and supervision of government projects.

"It is particularly prominent in big events which can increase both government official's work performance and achievements as well as create rent-seeking spaces for corruption," Liu said.