The national social security fund, a major source of China's
financial reserves, should be prized as an important guarantee for
economic development and social security, said Chinese Premier Zhu
Rongji Sunday.
Premier Zhu made the remark in a letter to the meeting of the board
of directors of the National Council for the Social Security Fund
(NCSSF) that opened on Sunday.
According to Liu Zhongli, president of the National Council for
Social Security Fund, some achievements have been scored in the
management and operation of China's social security fund within the
framework of interim management provisions over the past year.
Currently, the NCSSF has initially established a direct investment
operational system of the national social security fund and is
working actively to prepare for the launch of the trustee
investment.
By
the end of last December, the total assets of China's social
security fund amounted to 124.19 billion yuan (US$15 billion),
realizing 3.08 billion yuan (US$374.8 million) of accumulative
profits.
In
2002 alone, the country's social security fund made a profit of
more than 2.1 billion yuan (US$241.8 million) with a profitability
rate of up to 2.75 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2003)