A scientific outlook on development addresses development in a people-oriented, comprehensive, balanced and sustainable way.

The concept was proposed in 2003 at the third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It stresses that China's reform and development must be promoted by way of a coordinated urban-rural development, a coordinated development between different regions, a coordinated social and economic development, a harmony between man and nature, and a coordination between domestic development and the demand of opening up to the outside world.

By "people-oriented", we mean that people's interests must be made both the starting point and the end point in all our work, through which we keep meeting the various need of the people, and promoting the overall development of the people.

By comprehensive development, we mean we must speed up the construction of political and spiritual civilization while continuing to improve our socialist market economy and maintain its momentum of a sustained, rapid and sound economic development, through which we will realize a joint and coordinated development of the material, political and spiritual civilizations.

By balanced development, we mean we must coordinate development between urban and rural areas, between different regions, between social and economic sectors, and between domestic development and opening up to the outside world.

And by sustainable development, we mean we must achieve a harmonious development between man and nature, and properly handle relations among economic construction, population growth, uses of natural resources, and environmental protection. By way of that we will bring our society onto a path of a civilized development featuring a thriving economy, affluent lives and a sound eco-system.

The scientific outlook on development is a key strategic idea the Community Party of China put forward in the new century in terms of China's overall development.

(CRIENGLISH.com September 20, 2007)