Shanghai  has scored 84.97 points out of a possible hundred on its way to building a harmonious society.

The central government proposed making the country a harmonious society by 2020 - the aim is a society in which people can enjoy a high quality of life, a good society and a balance between man and the natural environment.

Shanghai's score is the second highest among 30 domestic provincial regions surveyed by the East China University of Science and Technology.

Beijing, which achieved a score of 86.45 points, tops the list.

It is expected Shanghai will take four to five years to achieve the goal, researchers said yesterday.

Conducted by the university's social sciences research institute, the Chinese city harmonious development report contains the country's first research figures on harmonious development levels.

Provinces and municipalities were judged on economic growth, humanitarian development, social progress and welfare, their ecological condition and the environment and then a composite picture was drawn up.

Shanghai was ahead of other regions in terms of economic growth, while it lagged behind for its social welfare especially the way the city looks after the underprivileged.

Beijing, however, lost out for its scores on its ecological condition and the environmental level, said Zhang Kun, vice director of ECUST's metropolis culture studies center and one of the program's researchers.

Researchers established the ideal score by assessing the highest scores in the various aspects achieved by the different cities.

The report suggests that the ideal score for the country will not be achieved until 2020 if the regions grow at an average speed of 3.9 percent.

(Shanghai Daily November 10, 2007)