The country's burgeoning social security system is being tested in Shenyang, the northeastern industrial city, home to hundreds of thousands of people who have retired or been laid-off.

Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning, is currently carrying out a national pilot project in the field.

"We have made breakthroughs in establishing and perfecting our social security system over the past year to ensure the benefits of the unemployed and the elderly," said Chen Zhenggao, mayor of Shenyang.

By the end of last year, 582,000 retirees in Shenyang have received their basic pensions through the bank.

The efforts to incorporate basic living allowances for laid-off workers from State-owned enterprises (SOEs) into unemployment insurance have also been going smoothly, officials said.

A total of 420 enterprises and 105,000 laid-off workers have participated in the unemployment insurance system.

Besides ensuring the basic living standards, the city has also improved management of reemployment centres. Last year, 113,000 new jobs were created and 200,000 laid-off workers have gained new jobs.

Furthermore, 171,000 urban residents have benefited from the subsistence living allowances valued at 205 yuan (US$24.7) per month by the end of 2001, 132,000 more than at the beginning of 2001.

A total of 606,000 people have also entered the medical insurance system since the project was initiated in September.

Security management and services established
Chen said the city has also set up a basic network in social security management and service extending to residential districts and communities.

"We have called for concerted efforts from the city's labour, civil administration, finance, tax and social security departments at all levels in the past year to ensure that the basic living allowances for laid-off workers from SOEs, and the basic pensions for retirees, and the subsistence allowances for poor urban residents are paid in full and on time," said Chen.

Some 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million) was invested last year to set up an advanced social security management computer system to strengthen the pension endowment system.

Meanwhile, the city has also improved the basic elderly insurance system by strengthening the computer management of individual accounts for its 1.24 million on-the-job workers.

Individual payment rates were raised from 6 per cent to 8 per cent on July 1, which enabled the city to establish reserve funds for granting pensions.

So far, 1.37 million urban workers, or 97 per cent of them, have joined the retirement insurance system by the end of last year and have helped raise 2.38 billion yuan (US$286.7 million) over the whole year.

Chen said the city has promoted the establishment of a social security system in communities that are independent of enterprises and government institutions.