BEIJING, Aug 28 - Chinese central government departments misused or mismanaged more than 46bn yuan (US$6.73bn) last year, including using disaster relief money to build government offices and diverting funds to speculate in stocks, the National Audit Office said on Thursday.

An audit of 53 central government departments and their subsidiary units found the misuse or embezzlement of 4.52bn yuan in 2007, down from 7bn yuan the year before, the audit office said in a statement on its website.