Mir Goillermo from Colombia in Central America reads the Shanghai Daily at a newsstand on Fuzhou Road in downtown Shanghai yesterday. Sales of the paper rose as expats and tourists sought news of the Party congress in Beijing. - Shanghai Daily

Shanghai will learn from the social security fund scandal which led to the downfall of the city's former Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu, a top city official said yesterday.

"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.

Shen, a delegate to the Party's 17th National Congress in Beijing, said Shanghai has warned all Party members and officials to learn from the scandal, step up Party building, and prevent corruption at the source.

Shen, who is also a Standing Committee member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said Shanghai will maintain fast, healthy and orderly social and economic development.

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

The Seventh Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee on Friday endorsed the July 26 decision of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to expel Chen, 61, from the Party. Chen was sacked last year from his post for his involvement in the Shanghai social security fund scandal.

Following Chen's downfall, several 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.

Also with the Shanghai delegation in Beijing yesterday was Zhong Yanqun, a congress delegate and deputy head of the executive council of the Shanghai World Expo, to be held from May to October 2010.

Zhong said the number of countries and international organizations participating in the Expo has reached 172, overtaking the previous record held by Germany's Hanover.

The figure has surpassed estimates made by Shanghai Party chief Xi Jinping, who said in August the number of participants would reach 170 by the end of this year. Xi estimated the figure would reach 200 by the end of 2008.