Shanghai Party chief Xi Jinping told delegates to the Ninth Shanghai Party Congress on Thursday that lessons had to be learnt from the social security fund scandal.

Fifty-three-year-old Xi, who was appointed Shanghai Party chief in the wake of a corruption scandal which cost his predecessor Chen Liangyu his job, made the remarks at the Ninth Shanghai Municipal Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) which opened on Thursday.

He said the social security fund scandal had revealed inadequate supervision of senior cadres and a lack of integrity among some leaders who put their personal interests before those of the Party.

Xi, who took office in March this year, stressed that supervision over government officials should be reinforced to ensure the "power bestowed by the people serves the people's interests".

He also called for transparency in the operation of departments that come under close public scrutiny such as those in the finance and assets management sectors.

Xi also outlined goals to keep the unemployment rate under 4.5 percent, provide 100,000 households with government subsidized low-rent housing and extend the total length of the subway lines to 500 km.

Former Shanghai Party chief Chen Liangyu was sacked last year from his post for his involvement in the Shanghai pension fund scandal. Officials misappropriated 3.7 billion yuan (US$483 million) from the fund to invest in risky real estate, road and other projects.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2007)