China hopes the United Nations "oil for food" scandal could be clarified as soon as possible, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.

When asked to comment on the recent reports of the alleged corruption involved in the "oil for food" program, Zhang Qiyue said China hopes the UN inquiry team will find out truth through just, independent, objective and transparent investigation.

The oil-for-food program, launched in December 1996 and terminated in November 2003, was intended to alleviate the effects on Iraqis of the international sanctions imposed on the regime of Saddam Hussein. It allowed Iraq to sell oil under the UN supervision to buy food and humanitarian supplies.

But US congressional investigators say Saddam's regime may have skimmed billions of dollars from the program, and allegations have surfaced of pay-offs to officials and private individuals from around the globe.

US republican congressman Norm Coleman recently called for the resignation of Annan over an alleged fraud and lack of oversight in the Iraq oil-for-food program handled by UN during Saddam Hussein's presidency.

Coleman, who heads a committee of five congress members, claimed that they had seen evidence that the Saddam regime accumulated some 21 billion US dollars illegally by manipulating the UN-managed program.

Annan has appointed the former head of the US federal banking system, Paul Volcker, to lead an inquiry into the allegations.