国内英语新闻:Improving livelihoods called key to social security: senior Chinese official

CHENGDU, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang has urged Party and government departments across the country to focus on improving people's livelihoods to manage social security.

Zhou, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks during a two-day meeting on the country's social security management that ended Saturday.

"Currently, our country's overall social situation is stable... But at the same time, we must see that various conflicts have been emerging, especially as many incidents happened recently that harmed the country's stability and induced tremendous negative effects," Zhou said.

He noted that such cases exposed the weaknesses in social construction and social management.

"Party and government departments should focus their work on ensuring and improving

people's livelihoods, and making greater efforts in solving prominent issues in education, employment, medical treatment and social insurance in order to let both urban and rural people share the fruits of the country's development," he said.

Zhou also urged social security officials to strengthen social construction and management with more effective measures and greater resolution.

During the meeting, representatives from various regions reviewed their working experiences in managing social security.