China's labor minister on Thursday warned administrators of
social security funds not to take risky investments that might
jeopardize the safety of the funds.
"For the management of social security funds, safety always
comes before increasing the value," said Tian Chengping, Minister
of Labor and Social Security, when addressing graduate students
from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
By the end of 2005, China's social security funds totaled 1.84
trillion yuan (US$233.35 billion), according to official
statistics.
"Strict rules should be set for the management of these funds
and any investment should be carried out with extreme caution,"
Tian said.
China's current social security framework includes five main
insurance programs: pension, unemployment, medical treatment,
injury at work, and pre-and postal-natal care for female
employees.
The misuse of social security funds has been highlighted this
year. In September, the Shanghai scandal, involving misconduct over
3.2-billion-yuan loan of city funds in Shanghai, brought down Chen
Liangyu, Party Secretary of Shanghai and member of the Political
Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee.
Chen is China's highest ranking official to be sacked in a
corruption scandal in the last decade.
(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2006)