Social harmony is again to be the theme of the upcoming plenary session of the Communist Party Central Committee's meeting. This is the third time the issue has been brought up since September 2004, indicating that social harmony is of primary importance in the eyes of our leaders. It is also a suggestion that this issue is far from being resolved. We will have to try harder.

Recent years have witnessed a general upsurge in expectations among the Chinese people. Citizens are more aware of their individual rights, and are willing to stand up to fight against any infringement. But on the whole, polls indicate that people feel good about themselves, and see a bright future for their livelihood and for the country. Nobody wants to rock the boat.

National stability is therefore no longer a big issue, and that is why the focus has been elevated to social harmony instead. Stability is not good enough; people deserve a better deal and to be happy.

Social harmony is a complicated issue arising from unbalanced regional development, uneven allocation of resources, unfair distribution of income, corruption and deficiencies in our legal system. No matter how hard we try, these problems cannot be solved overnight. This is perhaps one reason why they must be brought up frequently to serve as a reminder in case some officials may loosen the reins.

Conventional wisdom has it that all the above-mentioned problems result from over-emphasis on economic growth at the expense of developments in other areas, and that the remedy lies in the promotion of "green GDP." Like it or not, whatever "green GDP" means, economic growth is an essential part of it. In technical jargon, GDP is the objective function to be maximized, and green is the constraint, the bottom-line that cannot be crossed.

Common sense tells us that economic growth is not everything; but without it, there is nothing. We have over 20 million young people entering the labor market every year, and some estimate that we need at least 7 per cent annual growth just to supply them with jobs. Failing this, we would face high unemployment and achieving social harmony would be impossible.

Economic growth and social harmony are not mutually exclusive. They are partners. Whatever necessary reforms must be undertaken in the context of economic growth, and economic growth must also be undertaken in the context of social harmony.

Viewed from this people-based angle, economic growth is not an end in itself. First and foremost, it means gainful employment, and increasingly, it also means higher income for more people. Poverty eradication has been very successful in the past quarter century, and absolute poverty is becoming rare in China.

Poverty by itself is not that painful, but inequality, and the subsequent jealousy and feeling of injustice are, and they are detrimental to social harmony. With the Genie's Coefficient, a measure of income equality, having deteriorated to 0.42, social harmony is clearly endangered, and the government has to step in to do something about it by way of taxation on the rich, and transfer payment to the poor.

This has to be done at both the regional and individual levels. The affluent eastern coastal provinces have to contribute more to the development of the country's central and western regions. The cities have to be more hospitable to guest workers from the countryside. Both the grassroots labourers and the farmers must have their income raised fast, and their education and medical needs better taken care of. The livelihoods of pensioners and retirees have to be protected.

Our government is no longer an omnipotent machine that can take care of everything for everybody. There are many areas where civic society can participate and do a better job. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are invaluable adjuncts to government efforts in many other parts of the world, but they are still in their infancy in our country.

Following the best international practices, private citizens should be encouraged to provide various services and to solicit donations and sponsorship from the public, while the government takes a benign attitude and maintains a tight audit of their accounts to ensure there is no monkey business in the acquisition and dissemination of money.

At the same time, the wealth of the rich has to be seen to accumulate in legally and morally acceptable ways. There are some people who get rich through the transfer of State assets into their coffers through corruption and dubious means. Their high-profile self-promotion and conspicuous consumption can only serve to add more discontent among the general public. Again, it is up to the government to stop all these misdeeds.

To start with, it must see that all government officials are clean and operating within legal parameters. It is true that the government is unceasingly clamping down on corrupt officials of various ranks throughout the country, but the common impression indicates that corruption is still prevalent. At present, checks and balances within the system are far from sufficient and effective. A piece of good news is that legislation has just been passed to lay down the legal framework for the National People's Congress to supervise the working of the government.

Again, the government cannot do all the work by itself without assistance from the citizenry. Our media should be empowered to perform their role as public watchdogs and whistle-blowers. A balance has to be struck between press freedom, individual privacy and public interest. Although commercialism is slowly but relentlessly creeping into the content of our media, they are in general highly responsible.

A robust media is always conducive to social harmony. So is the revival of morality and an overall sense of pride among the people. The age of naked pursuit of materialism is gone, and the whole country is now aspiring to regain its historical glory in the modern world. In line with our tradition, social harmony starts at the individual level, and cannot be complete without achieving harmony with nature.

There is still a long way to go. But we have already moved quite a few mountains, and are confident that this is another one we can tackle.

The author is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from Hong Kong.

(China Daily September 13, 2006)