Social harmony is more than just a prerequisite for the country to achieve sustainable development. It is also integral to the overall well-off society that the Chinese people are striving for.

The top leaders called on the nation at the recent Fourth Plenum of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to build a harmonious socialist society.

Such high-profile advocacy will definitely give a new impetus to efforts the country has already been making to address various problems in social and economic development.

But the width and breadth of social changes the country has undergone over the past 25 years have made maintaining social harmony an extremely daunting task, while the nation pursues fast economic growth.

China has quadrupled its economy within the last two decades of the 20th century. The nation is now set to repeat that growth miracle in the first two decades of this century.

The call to build a harmonious society means China will maintain its economic development momentum while preserving its traditional ethics.

But the growth has not benefited everyone. An increasing number of crimes over the years has exposed a growing dissatisfaction in the radical transformation of the economy and society.

On the one hand, a widening income gap, a common problem in the modernization drive of most developing countries, has become a focal point of society.

In the early years of the country's reform and opening-up, almost all people have benefited significantly from the country's economic progress, which has been achieved mainly by breaking up the outdated central planning framework.

But as the country undertakes its market-oriented reforms, some blatant illegal profiteering is being allowed to continue.

At the same time, the government has failed to provide adequate social security for those left behind, and there has been an increase in unemployment and urban poverty.

The increasing mobility typified by rural migrant workers who flow into the cities by the million each year has also become a source of problems because of the lack of policy to ease social tension on this huge group.

The widening development gap between urban and rural areas has been compelling more rural labourers to seek jobs in cities. But the obsolete urban residence registration system as well as discriminative education and healthcare systems all make it difficult for migrant workers to live in urban areas.

Many of these problems stem from the country's excessive stress on economic development.

We need to look back into the past, traditional Chinese culture for ideas, if not answers to deal with these emerging challenges.

To build a safer society, the government should turn itself into a more caring governing body. Fortunately, the central authorities seem to be coming to grips with this critical issue.

Now it is time for concrete action.

(China Daily September 24, 2004)