by Xie Chuanjiao and Chen Jia

　　BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Qingdao, in East China's Shandong province, is gaining recognition for being the Chinese city where residents are most satisfied with low-income housing, social security, medical care and other public aid, according to a bluebook.

　　The Evaluation on Chinese Cities' Basic Public Services Capacity (2010 2011), released on Sunday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ranks Qingdao over Beijing, Ningbo and Dalian in that regard. Closely following it in the listing are Lhasa, Zhuhai, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Xiamen and Zhengzhou.

　　The bluebook looked at surveys and analyses conducted in 38 prominent cities last year. The surveys posed questions about nine basic forms of public aid, including the provision of housing, social security, employment, medical care, security, education, transport, a clean environment, cultural resources, sports and government services.

　　Qingdao Mayor Xia Geng said the city is dedicated to ensuring that residents there enjoy equal access to public aid and services.

　　"The capacity to provide basic public services has become an important indicator of government performance as social management becomes an essential part of government work," Xia told China Daily, adding that the government has put a priority on providing more public aid in the forms of housing and social security, among others.

　　The mayor said the government will continue building low-income houses this year. "A minimum of 60,000 low-income or low-priced apartments will be completed in the next three years," he said.

　　Last year the city officially introduced an old-age pension system for urban and rural residents. The system now covers the entire city. By late this past month, the pension fund had benefited 3.5 million persons, including 880,000 who are older than 60.

　　As the first blue book to discuss the country's public service, the book urges the government to place a greater priority on housing, social welfare and employment, healthcare and other types of public aid, he said.

　　"The assessment of the political performances of governments should reduce the weight given to GDP in such considerations and increase governments' contributions to basic public aid," said Zhong Jun, an expert at the Marxism Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

　　(Source:China Daily)