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".

"We must build efficient supervision systems," said Xi, adding that it was crucial to prevent power abuse at origin.

He 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 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.

In his two-hour speech, Xi also expressed his willingness to share the development opportunities and achievements of the 2010 World Expo with neighboring cities and provinces.

"The 2010 world expo theme 'Better city, better life' should also be the common pursuit of Shanghai people and the future development of the municipality," said Xi, who saw the event as an impetus for Shanghai to realize scientific development and improve living standards.

Shanghai has maintained an average annual growth of 12.2 percent in its gross domestic product (GDP) over the past five years and kept a double-digit GDP growth rate for the past 15 consecutive years, Xi said in his report at the gathering.

Shanghai's GDP surpassed one trillion yuan last year. The city's population reached 13.6 million at the end of 2005.

Xi also pledged in his report that big progress must be made in the next five years to accomplish the long-term goal of building Shanghai into an international economic, financial, trade and shipping center.

"Shanghai has maintained good development (after the social security fund scandal) and an overall stable situation, which fully reflects the excellent overall quality and high spirit of Shanghai's CPC members, officials and citizens," Xi said.

Former Shanghai Party chief Chen Liangyu was sacked last year from his post for his involvement in the Shanghai pension fund scandal. Officials are accused of misappropriating 3.7 billion yuan (483 million U.S. dollars) from the fund to invest in risky real estate, road and other projects.

Source: Xinhua