General Secretary Hu Jintao's emphasis on scientific methods, sustainable development and "putting people first" has won wide support and praise from international organizations.

Khalid Malik, United Nations resident coordinator in China and UNDP resident representative, hailed the discussions under way at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which opened on Monday.

"You have a feeling there are very committed efforts to make certain policies to follow an objective analysis of the country's situation," he commented on the political report delivered by Hu.

The UN resident coordinator said he was delighted the Chinese leadership's desire to build a xiaokang and harmonious society is very similar to the UN's Millennium Development Goals for human development.

Malik said the report's emphasis on bringing both rural and urban parts of the country under the coverage of one common system of social security, health and education represents a big step forward.

On the closely connected issues of the environment and economic development, Malik said the country must find a way to pursue economic growth while protecting the environment.

"The old model is the whole idea of you first develop, you pollute and you clean up. But if you destroy the environment, you are hurting yourself," he said.

To better protect the environment, the country has to find new technologies and new approaches, he said.

While praising the president's Scientific Outlook of Development as a good thing, Malik noted that in the end, "we have to see what the outcomes are".

"In China, there is no debate on what to do. The real question is how to do it."

The real question is how to put into practice the visions of development articulated at the congress, which will take a great deal of effort, he said.

Chris Spohr, social sector economist of the Asian Development Bank China resident mission, said: "I feel this represents a firmer commitment from the highest levels of China's leadership to a new development direction emerging in recent years, arguably a fundamentally new paradigm of balanced and people-centered development."

Hu underscored the need to address critical gaps and imbalances as well as the many environmental challenges facing the country, he said.

"The president's remarks point to a doubling of efforts to address the remaining challenges and advance social harmony."

Guo Ruixiang, China programme specialist of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, told China Daily yesterday that "it is even more important to stress females' participation in politics at the time the government brought up the concept of scientific outlook on development and "putting people first".

"A harmonious society features the equality of the two genders," she said.

(China Daily October 17, 2007)