Abstract: At present, the main viewpoints about the objective of government auditing include public accountability, restraint and supervision on power, management and control on public fund, and auditing information. Meanwhile the formulations of the object of government auditing are even rich and colorful. If government auditing is taken into the consideration within the state governance system, the ultimate objective of government auditing can be viewed as the safeguard　for the fundamental interests of both the state and/or the public; and the object of government auditing can be treated abstractively as power, those who exercise power and how to exercise power. This kind of understanding can interpret the nature of government auditing from the perspective of state governance and power theory; it may improve the authority of government auditing and give full play to government auditing as an instrument of state governance.

Key words: state governance; objective of government auditing; object of government auditing