State Councilor Hua Jianmin on Thursday called for tighter management of social security funds for safe investment returns.

The National Council for Social Security Funds (SSF) had successfully expanded the value of China's social security fund and generated safe investment returns since its establishment in 2000, said Hua, also Secretary General of the State Council.

The SSF should make further efforts to regulate operations and strengthen risk management, he told the 2008 Pension Fund International Seminar in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The government should seek international experience to build the social security net, and make the net better suited for the nation's basic conditions, he said.

Yao Gang, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), told the seminar the CSRC would continue to raise the proportion of the social security and insurance funds that can be invested in the equity markets.

(Xinhua News Agency February 29, 2008)