China Balanced Growth Under Hu Jintao | Generated by AI
科学发展观 (Kēxué Fāzhǎn Guān), or the Scientific Outlook on Development, was a major ideological framework in Chinese Communist Party theory that guided China’s development strategy from the early 2000s through the mid-2010s.
Historical Context
The concept was introduced by Hu Jintao, who served as General Secretary of the CCP from 2002-2012 and President of China from 2003-2013. It emerged as China grappled with the unintended consequences of rapid economic growth—widening inequality, environmental degradation, and social tensions. The framework was formally adopted at the 17th Party Congress in 2007 and written into the Party Constitution.
Core Principles
The Scientific Outlook on Development rests on several foundational ideas:
People-Centered Development (以人为本): Development should prioritize people’s wellbeing rather than just GDP growth. This represented a philosophical shift from measuring success purely through economic metrics.
Comprehensive Development: Rather than focusing exclusively on economic growth, development should be balanced across economic, political, cultural, and social dimensions.
Coordinated Development: The framework called for balance between urban and rural areas, between coastal and inland regions, between economic and social development, between human development and nature, and between domestic development and opening to the outside world (collectively known as the “Five Balances” or 五个统筹).
Sustainable Development: Emphasizing harmony between humanity and nature, resource conservation, and environmental protection—acknowledging that China’s rapid industrialization had come at significant environmental cost.
Practical Applications
Under this framework, Chinese policy shifted in several ways. The government increased spending on rural development, healthcare, and education. Environmental protection became a higher priority, at least rhetorically. The concept of a “harmonious society” (和谐社会) became a key policy goal, addressing social stability concerns. There was also greater attention to reducing regional disparities between prosperous coastal areas and less-developed interior provinces.
Theoretical Significance
Within CCP ideology, the Scientific Outlook on Development was positioned as the third major theoretical innovation after Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory (with Jiang Zemin’s “Three Represents” sometimes counted as well). It represented the Hu Jintao leadership’s contribution to the evolving body of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Legacy and Transition
When Xi Jinping became General Secretary in 2012, he introduced his own ideological framework—”Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”—which has since become the dominant theoretical framework. While the Scientific Outlook on Development remains part of official ideology and Party history, it has been superseded in practical importance by Xi’s formulations.
The concept represents an important chapter in how the CCP has adapted Marxist-Leninist theory to China’s specific conditions and challenges, particularly the transition from prioritizing growth at all costs to attempting more balanced, sustainable development.