BEIJING, July 30 -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Thursday named 9 government organs for withholding idle funds that were supposed to be turned in to the central budget for more efficient use.

The departments include the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Environmental Protection.

As the Chinese economy has slowed, authorities have repeatedly emphasized the need to activate unspent fiscal funds to support growth. The finance ministry launched a nationwide inspection of idle fiscal funds from March 20 to April 20 to review such funds.

According to the MOF, some 119 central government organs are required to turn in 13.1 billion yuan (2.14 billion U.S. dollars) in fiscal funds to the central budget to be redistributed to growth-stabilizing sectors.

China's economic growth held steady at 7 percent in the first half of the year, with nascent signs of recovery fuelling hopes of growth picking up momentum in the latter half of the year.