Shanghai will maintain fast, healthy and orderly social and economic development through drawing lessons from the social security fund scandal which led to the downfall of the city's former Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu, an anti-graft official said Tuesday during the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"The case has been settled thoroughly and in time under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and Shanghai Municipal Committee, and all people involved have been punished," said Shen Deyong, secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and a delegate to the ongoing Party congress.

Shanghai has warned all Party members and officials to draw lessons from the scandal, step up Party building, and prevent corruption from the source, said Shen, who is also a Standing Committee member of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

"It's normal for an occasional dark cloud to overshadow Shanghai's sky, but the sun will ultimately dispel it and the sky will be clear in the end," he said during a group discussion with the Shanghai delegation to the Party congress on Tuesday.

The Seventh Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee on Friday endorsed the decision made by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to expel Chen, 61, from the Party.

The Political Bureau made the decision on July 26.

Chen was sacked last year from his post for his involvement in the Shanghai social security fund scandal. Following Chen's downfall, a number of officials and business people were ensnared in the probe, including Shanghai's former labor and social security chief Zhu Junyi, former director in charge of the city's state assets management Ling Baoheng and two district magistrates.

They were accused of misappropriating 3.7 billion yuan (US$483 million) from the fund to invest in risky real estate, road and other projects.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2007)