China's leadership is hard at work speeding up efforts to let officials at all levels accept and adopt the "scientific concept of development,'' which stresses both stable economic growth and better social services.

Just days before the convention of the "two sessions'' -- the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPC), the full text of Premier Wen Jiabao's speech on this concept was published.

The speech, described by experts as "the first comprehensive and systematic elaboration" on this concept, is believed to be a preview of a main topic at the two sessions.

The "scientific concept of development," focusing on seeking sustainable economic and social growth, is believed to take into account the interests and concerns of the people, according to Li Xiutan, an expert with the Research Office of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

He told China Daily that it is expected to become a hot topic at the CPPCC and NPC meetings, which will be attended by China's political elites, especially government officials at all levels, as well as scholars and representatives of all social groups.

The publishing of Wen's speech ahead of the meeting is important, because Wen will make his first government work report to NPC deputies who cast votes last year to choose him as the country's top government official, Li said.

"The work associated with running a government has entered a new period and there are two possibilities: either the smooth development of the country, or social unrest,'' Li said.

In his speech, Wen urged his audience, mainly ministerial and provincial-level officials, to learn lessons and experience from other countries and properly deal with the relations between economic growth and social development.

"The scientific concept of development is a marked theoretical contribution to socialism construction,'' Li said.

He said it shows the new leadership of the State, headed by President Hu Jintao, has a deeper and better understanding of rules governing the development of socialism, as well as human and social progress.

The adoption of the new concept is a "positive and active'' response to the political, economic and social challenges faced by Chinese leadership, Center for China Studies Director Hu Angang said in an interview with China Daily.

The center is jointly run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Professor Hu, a member of the central government's brain trust, listed problems in five sectors as the biggest challenges for China: the widening gap between rural and urban areas; the increasing disparity between different regions; unbalanced economic and social development; over-exploitation of resources and environment, and increasing unemployment figures.

"The people-centered new concept of development should focus on improving the quality of people's lives, instead of just increasing the per capita gross domestic product (GDP),'' Hu said.

The relentless push for per capita GDP growth usually covers up such problems as increasing gaps between the rich and the poor, unbalanced regional development and unfair social distribution, he added.

R.C. Lao, the resident project manager of the Canada-China Project on Cleaner Production under the Canadian International Development Agency, said that China's cost for national GDP growth is one of the highest in the world, including the energy and material consumption associated with the unit GDP.

The country must adopt a model characterized with consumption of low natural resources, control of environmental pollution, and efficient deployment of human resources, Lao said.

In the past, the Chinese Government has paid more attention to economic growth than to social development, according to Hu.

He said that "hardware investment,'' or investment in basic infrastructure and equipment, is more than "software investment,'' referring to investment in education, public health and environmental protection.

"China should increase its financial expenditures on education, public health, family planning, poverty relief and environmental protection,'' he noted.

Li said that it is significant for NPC deputies to discuss the "new concept of development'' because some officials still only take increases of the GDP as achievements in their governmental posts.

Undoubtedly, economic growth is still the core of development, but indices of social progress, democracy, legal system, resources and environment should also be taken into consideration by the government, he noted.

(China Daily March 4, 2004))