Former Shanghai Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu, who is under investigation for the Shanghai social security fund scandal, will not attend the annual meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC), a spokesman of the top legislature said on Sunday.

Investigation into the Shanghai scandal is going smoothly and details of the case will be publicized at an appropriate time, said the spokesman, Jiang Enzhu, at a press conference ahead of the NPC's annual full session that will kick off on Monday.

A total of 3.7 billion yuan (about 475 million U.S. dollars) of social security funds were found misused in Shanghai in 2006. Chen was sacked last September for alleged involvement in the scandal.

Nine other Shanghai officials involved in the case have been stripped of their posts and expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC), who may also face criminal charges.

Former head of the National Bureau of Statistics Qiu Xiaohua was also sacked and expelled from the CPC for their involvement in the scandal.

China has always been resolute in combating corruption, and a series of measures have been taken to improve the anti-corruption system, Jiang said.

"Through unremitting efforts, we are bound to curb corruption to the minimum," Jiang said.

In the recent four years, around 30 NPC deputies and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body, have been ousted.

Eye-catching names on the list include Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug Administration, who has been expelled from the Communist Party and given administrative penalty for taking advantage of the administration's drug approval power to obtain bribes and seek illegal profits for some drug companies, disregarding his duty to supervise the drug market.

Downfall of Zheng and the nine Shanghai officials involved in the pension scandal was made known to the public shortly before the opening of "lianghui", or the "two sessions" --the annual meetings of the NPC and CPPCC National Committee.

"Transparency of our Party in handling the case not only signaled determination of the government in cracking down on corruption, but sent a warning to other officials in power," said Chu Huaizhi, a law professor with Beijing University.

Statistics show that from 2003 to Oct. 2006, China's prosecuting organs at all levels tackled 67,505 graft-related criminal suspects.

An online poll launched in the run-up to the NPC and CPPCC National Committee sessions shows that anti-graft is still one of the most concerned issues among Chinese People.

The widespread of embezzlement has been attributed to inadequate laws, lack of transparency and inadequate public supervision.

China will tighten the control of social security fund this year to ward off misappropriation, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security earlier this year.

Source: Xinhua