By Xuan Xiaowei, Research Team on "An Indicator System for Scientific Development Evaluation", Department of Development Strategy and Regional Economy of DRC

Research Report No 93, 2012

I. Theoretical Backing and Logical Framework for a "Core Indicator System for Scientific Development Evaluation"

1. A "core indicator system for scientific development evaluation" should be centered on the "people-oriented" concept

Construction of the core indicator system for scientific development evaluation must fundamentally reflect the essence and requirement of the scientific outlook on development. To grasp the connotations of the scientific outlook on development, one must first understand why the "people-oriented" concept is at the heart of the outlook.

The judgment that the "people-oriented" concept is at the heart of the scientific outlook on development embodies the fundamental theory of Marxist historical materialism, reflects the Party's primary purpose of serving the people and the ultimate goal of promoting economic and social development. Only with a profound insight into the people-oriented concept, can people fully and correctly understand the scientific outlook on development and implement it in all aspects of economic and social development. Thus the "core indicator system for scientific development evaluation" must be centered on the "people-oriented" concept, and to make clear the connotations of the concept is important for achieving the above goals.

To be people-oriented means to fully reflect and represent the people's interests in development, adhere to development for and by the people, and to bring the benefit of development to all the people, so as to enable the masses to gain more tangible benefits and to steadily enjoy common prosperity. To be people-oriented is to take people's all-round development as the ultimate goal of economic and social development; therefore we should not only focus on people's material and cultural needs, but also on boosting people's quality. On the basis of economic and social progress, we should constantly endeavor to uplift people's quality and capability, which, in turn, contributes to economic and social development.

2. "People-oriented" and "Maslow's hierarchy of needs"

The fact that the core of the scientific outlook on development is the people-oriented concept points out the orientation and fundamental logic of the core indicator system for scientific development evaluation. However, while the "people-oriented" concept provides only the orientation of the evaluation system, we still need to make clear how to center on people-oriented and what is it specifically about. Here we can draw on "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" to illustrate the connotations of the "people-oriented" concept.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs, also called "hierarchy of basic needs", is a behavior theory put forward by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in a paper entitled "A Theory of Human Motivation" in 1943. The theory holds that human needs come in five types portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the most fundamental needs at the bottom. To be specific, there are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging (needs to be in social groups), esteem (needs for respect), and needs for self-actualization.

Though Maslow's hierarchy of needs has its own limitations and we don't completely agree with Maslow's argument that diverse needs are hierarchical, his views on classification of needs as well as the contents concerned can be borrowed to enrich the "people-oriented" concept, providing valuable reference for us to build a core indicator system for scientific development evaluation.

3. "Five Civilizations", "Five-Access Society" and "core indicator system for scientific development evaluation"

As clearly stated above, the "people-oriented" concept, which is at the heart of the scientific outlook on development, provides the fundamental principle for the construction of the core indicator system for scientific development evaluation, and we may refer to Maslow's hierarchy of needs to illustrate the "people-oriented" concept. However, in what specific ways should the "people-oriented" concept be implemented? How can the essence of the concept be materialized? What are the prioritized fields for the core evaluation system under current circumstances? Bearing these questions in mind, we will discuss the overall picture and pressing issues regarding the core indicator system for scientific development evaluation from the two aspects of "Five Civilizations" and "Five-Accesses Society".

(1) "Five Civilizations" encompass all the fields covered by the core indicator system for scientific development evaluation.

Five Civilizations represent the fruits of our ever-increasing knowledge and practice in the process of China's modernization. In the report delivered at the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), it was pointed out that we should endeavor to build socialist spiritual civilization while trying to attain a high degree of material civilization. The 13th National Congress of the CPC set the goal of building "a prosperous, strong, democratic and culturally advanced country" in socialist modernization drive. From then on the Central Committee of the CPC has always emphasized the coordinated development of material, political and spiritual civilizations and the all-round progress of the society. In the Report at the 16th National Congress of the CPC, Jiang Zemin set the development of socialist democratic politics and construction of socialist political civilization as the important target for all-roundly building a moderately well-off society. The 6th plenary session of the 16th CPC Central Committee went further to put forward the goal of pushing forward coordinated development of social, economic, political and cultural construction, expanding the three-in-one goal of modernization to a four-in-one goal. Hu Jintao formally proposed the concept of "ecological civilization" at the 17th National Congress of the CPC. A coordinated development is thus required for material, political, spiritual, social and ecological civilizations; they interact and mutually influence each other, combining to form a well integrated whole.

Among the Five Civilizations, material civilization refers to material achievements of mankind in the process of transforming nature, embodying their progress in material life. It is manifested in the progress in material production and economic life. The more advanced the material civilization, the farther away people are from the wilderness, and the less dependant they are on nature, with a growing capacity to bring nature under control. Political civilization means the valuable achievements in political practice, as reflected in the progress in the social political system and political life. Political civilization includes civilized political concepts, policies, conduct and goals. Spiritual civilization is the aggregate of spiritual achievements made in transforming the objective and subjective worlds, indicating the progress in human intelligence and morals. Social civilization, in the broad sense, means people's enlightened state and progress attained, the sum of human achievements in transforming the objective and subjective worlds, an integration of material, political and spiritual civilizations; in the narrow sense, it is parallel with material civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization, embodying social progress and achievements in social construction. The term "social civilization" is often used in the narrow sense. Ecological civilization is the sum of mankind's achievements in improving the ecological environment by following the law that man, nature and society develop harmoniously. It refers to the primary goal of fostering a harmony between people and nature, between people themselves, and between individuals and society, and striving for a virtuous circle, all-round development and sustainable prosperity.

In the Five Civilizations, ecological civilization is the prerequisite, the material civilization is the foundation, the political civilization is the guarantee, spiritual civilization is the soul and social civilization is the goal. Emphasis upon common progress and coordinated development of the Five Civilizations is a correct response to the development trend of human society, and another milestone in the Party's scientific development and harmonious development theories. Construction of the core indicator system for scientific development evaluation necessitates implementation of the people-oriented concept in the above-mentioned Five Civilizations which should include all fields covered by the core indicator system.

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