Audit independence is the main principle of auditing legislation and audit system construction in modern China, but modern Chinese auditing system has not really achieved independence. In the late Qing Dynasty, independent audit institutions were set up to contain the cabinet and consolidate the imperial power. The audit offices of the Beijing government in the Republic of China were subordinate to the administrative organs, and since then the audit houses were under the control of the President and were not independent; during the period of the National Government, the independence of audit had been strengthened, but under the dictatorship of the Kuomintang, the independence of audit organization was relatively limited. The independent audit system and its practice in modern China show that the effectiveness of the audit system needs the support of a good political system and the cooperation of perfecting financial system, with auditing organs endowed with a powerful means of supervision and auditors given special job security.