Shenzhen officials on Thursday assured residents that the city's social security fund was in safe hands, after Shanghai was hit by a social security scandal last month.

"The social security fund of Shenzhen is safe and complete," Yuan Jianyong, spokesman and vice director general of the Shenzhen Municipal Labor and Social Security Bureau, told a news conference at the city government's Press Hall on Thursday.

Yuan said the social security fund is audited by the central, provincial and municipal governments, and is inspected by a supervision commission as well as the legislature every year.

The supervision of the fund will be further improved, mainly through enhancing the function of the supervision commission which is formed of people from different strata of society, he said.

To increase the value of the fund, Shenzhen has applied to the State Council to invest the fund money, the spokesman said. At present the fund can only be deposited in the bank or used to buy government bonds, which are safe but earn little profit. China now only allows three provinces, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang to invest the fund money on a trial basis.

Yuan also revealed at the press conference that the nation is trying to allow easier transfer of pension schemes to different places. The nation requires citizens to pay premiums for at least 15 years before receiving the pension, but migrant workers often find it difficult to transfer their pension accounts when moving from city to city. As a result, many simply quit the pension program.

"Migrant workers have made great contribution to the city's economic development, and Shenzhen should protect their rights," said Yuan.

Shenzhen's company retirees receive an average monthly pension of over 2,000 yuan, compared with 735 yuan nationwide. Only 4.16 million people are in the pension program, fewer than half of the total population. However, the rate is higher than in most Chinese cities, with the total number of people in the nation's pension program standing at about 10 million.

(Shenzhen Daily October 20, 2006)