Shanghai will adopt a new financial management system for its vast pile of social security funds, with the local branch of a leading Chinese commercial bank taking on a management role, sources with the municipal government announced Tuesday.

Independent supervision of money management will be a feature of the new system, the sources said.

The Shanghai Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was recently chosen from among 13 candidates to manage the project, according to officials.

Three separate accounts -- an income account, an expenditure account and a special account -- will be opened at the local ICBC branch and used to manage Shanghai's social security funds, bank officials said.

The new system is a response to a corruption scandal that hit headlines this summer, shocking the nation. Chen Liangyu, secretary of the municipal committee of the Communist Party of China, and Zhu Junyi, head of the municipal social security authorities, were sacked for stealing money from the social security coffers. Qiu Xiaohua, head of the State Bureau of Statistics, was also involved in the case and has been removed from office.

On November 1, Shanghai promulgated regulations concerning the financial management of social security funds, which stipulated the setting up of independent income and expenditure accounts as well as third-party supervision.

In the past, Shanghai's social security funds were managed through a single income account. Local social security authorities made decisions about revenue, withdrawal and payment of funds. This made it relatively easy for some corrupt administrators to embezzle money.

It is believed the new system will help ensure transparency in the management and supervision of the social security funds.

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, China is considering formulating state regulations on social security funds.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2006)