Local residents will be kept informed about the use of their
pension fund through a new information system to be set up next
year.
This is another measure aimed at better managing the fund
following a scandal last year.
Shanghai Municipal Government sources said on Wednesday new
measures will be drafted on the management of the social security
fund. An information transparency system will also be
introduced.
"By opening government information to the public, citizens will
have a better idea of the income and expenditure of the fund," Bao
Danru, the spokesman of the Shanghai Labor and Social Security
Bureau, said.
The management of the pension fund will also be subject to
public scrutiny, Bao said.
The social security fund was established by the central
government in August 2000 to tackle the problem of an increasing
aging population in the country.
However, in Shanghai, the fund was embezzled and misused for the
building of highways and other construction projects.
Sources said this had happened because of inadequate laws, lack
of transparency and public supervision.
Last year, the Shanghai Municipal Government announced new
measures would be introduced to safeguard the fund.
"All items of the social security fund will now be placed in a
special financial account and no money will be directly paid out
from the account. Any spending from the fund will have to be
approved and done according to the law," Bao said.
(China Daily September 28, 2007)