A Research Report on the Development Level of Capitals and
Sub-Provincial Cities in “Wonderful China” (2012)
(An Abridged Edition)
By the “Wonderful China” evaluation group (Sichuan University)
December 25, 2012
Ⅰ. Background
On November 8, 2012, the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist
Party (NCCCP) was held in Beijing. President Hu Jintao clearly pointed out in the
report of the 18th NCCCP: “the ecological civilization construction is a long-term
program for people’s well-being and national future. Facing up with the tension of
resource constraints, serious environmental pollution, and ecological deterioration, we
must establish the ecological civilization concept of respecting nature, complying
with nature, and protecting nature; we must make it a top priority to construct the
ecological civilization and integrate the ecological civilization construction into the
different facets and the whole process of economic, political, cultural, and social
construction; we must strive to build a wonderful China and realize the sustainable
development of the Chinese nation.” On November 15, Xi Jinping, the newly elected
general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), addressed at the Standing
Committee Conference: “our people love life, yearning for better education, more
stable work, more satisfactory income, more reliable social security, higher level of
medical and health services, more comfortable living conditions, and more beautiful
environment. Our people expect children to grow better, work better and live better.
People’s yearning for a better life is our goal.”
For the first time the report of the 18th NCCCP emphasized the construction of a
“Wonderful China”. Meanwhile, the report made it a top priority to construct the
ecological civilization, especially highlighting the integration of the ecological
civilization construction into the economic, political, cultural, and social construction.
In accordance with the spirit of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
(CCCPC) and based on the study of related academic background as well as a wide
absorption of academic achievements in recent years, the research group made it clear
that the concept of wonderful China was a combination of aesthetic concept,
ecological concept, sociology, and concept of other disciplines; a harmonious unity of
academic concept and governing conceptions , as well as integration of the trend of
the times, people’s voice, and collective intelligence. It had three basic points: First, it
highlighted the ecological civilization construction; second, it emphasized the
integration of the ecological civilization construction into the economic, political,
cultural, and social construction; third, it focused on the goal of making a “Good Life”.
Therefore, wonderful China was a combination of beautiful environment, sustainable
development, good governance, diverse culture, and ideal harmony; a unity of
worldwide wisdom, national level, and people’s sense; a unification of Chinese value,
goal, and road. The key to constructing wonderful China was to achieve people’s goal
of pursing “Good Life” and fulfill the “Chinese Dream” of national rejuvenation,
which should be obtained through the ecological, economic, political, cultural and
social construction meeting the requirements of ecological civilization.(see Fig. 1:
Conceptual Model of “Wonderful China” )
Good life
Economic
construction
Good life
Political
Social
Good
Ecological civilization
construction
construction
life
Cultural
construction
Good life
Fig. 1: Conceptual Model of “Wonderful China”
The Research Report on the Development Level of Capitals and Sub-Provincial
Cities in “Wonderful China” (2012) was a staged achievement the “Wonderful China”
evaluation group (Sichuan University), based on half a year’s research on Beauty
Index of China’s Provinces, Cities (Towns) and the Scenic Spots. It should be pointed
out that when data entry of the report was closed some relevant core statistical
yearbooks of Guiyang, Lhasa, Nanning and Changchun were not compiled or
published. Therefore, the temporary evaluation did not include the four cities above.
Moreover, due to different statistical calibers, the report did not include Hong Kong,
Macao and Taiwan, either.
Principal Investigators:
Cai Shangwei, professor, doctoral supervisor, director of “Wonderful China”
Institute (Sichuan University), Head of Cultural Industry Research Center (Sichuan
University).
Cheng Li, doctor, professor of School of History and Culture (Sichuan
University), executive director of “Wonderful China” Institute (Sichuan University),
visiting professor of Purdue University (the U.S.A.).
Gan Lu, doctor, associate professor of School of Tourism (Sichuan University)
and associate researcher of Cultural Industry Research Center (Sichuan University).
Core Members of the Group: Han Haijun, ZhaoYi, Yu Hong, Luo Pian, Yin
Weiqian, Jiang Xiaoting, Wang Wenjin, Zhao Rui, Ruan Honglin, Zhang Lin, Liao
Xiaoping, Fu Bin, Chen Junhong, Hu Ruirui, Liang Shuang, Wang Jing, Wu Xinyu,
Wang Xiaoying, Wang Ruijuan, Qin Huifang.
Ⅱ. Guiding Principles and Index System Designing
According to the idea of “Five in One” comprehensive and syncretic development
involving ecology, economy, politics, culture and society, the main purpose of
evaluating the construction level of capitals and sub-provincial cities in “Wonderful
China” was to assess the construction level of relevant cities objectively and
scientifically in order to promote the in-depth and effective construction of “Wonderful
China” everywhere.
1. Guiding Principles of Index Designing
Indicator selection should not only fully reflect the constructing situation of
“Wonderful China”, but also demonstrate the vigor and potential of “Wonderful China”
construction in different cities. For selecting the evaluation index, the research group
followed the guiding principles of guidance quality, rationality, objectivity, and
openness, which was in accordance with relevant domestic and foreign evaluation
index systems and academic research achievements.
- The principle of guidance quality: The index system should fully play a
guiding and leading role, stimulating regions to further strengthen the scientific
development consciousness and ability, innovate system and mechanism, and
effectively speed up scientific development process. In order to enhance policy
guidance and practical significance of the index system, indicators should be designed
in accordance with the report of the 18th NCCCP, the address of comrade Xi Jinping, as
well as other related plans for national economy and social development like “The
Twelfth Five-Year Guideline” of the Central Committee, and so on.
- The principle of rationality: Index selection should be very logical; typical, and
demonstrative. Method of measurement was based on the existing academic research.
Moreover, based on the firm academic theory, index selection fully reflected the
construction level of the three basic aspects of “Wonderful China” after consulting
experts’ opinions in relevant fields.
- The principle of objectivity: Index selection should be objective. Meanwhile,
statistical data should be authoritative and available so that the index could be collected,
quantified, and contrasted.
- The principle of openness: The index system should be dynamic and open. It
could be complemented, improved, and revised in accordance with the national and
regional development stage and the differences of the evaluated objects.
2. The Index System
According to the above guidelines, “Wonderful China” evaluation index system
contained five dimensions involving beautiful environment, sustainable development,
good governance, prosperous culture, and harmonious society (See Fig.2). It also
contained 53 indicators covering the ecological, economic, political, cultural and social
fields, which embodied the idea of “Five in One” and the basic requirement of
integration of ecological civilization. It would promote the construction of “Wonderful
China” among cities, and at last achieve the two grand goals of pursing “Good Life” as
well as fulfilling the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Ecological quality
Beautiful environment
Ecological dimension
Environmental management
Environmentally friendly
Sustainable development
Economic dimension
Economic structure
Development performance
Environmental protecting act
Good governance
Political dimension
Wonderful China
Political progress
Cultural heritage
Prosperous culture
Cultural dimension
Production inputs
Culture consumption
Livelihood input
Harmonious society
Social dimension
Quality of life
Fig.2:
The Framework of Evaluation Index System
Table 1. Master List of Index System
First-Class Targets
Second-Class Targets
Third-Class Targets
1. The number of the world natural heritage site (number)
2. The number of national nature reserve (number)
3. The number of the national scenic spot (number)
1.Ecological quality
4. The number of 5A level scenic spot (number)
5.Per capita green area (m2)
1.
6.Urban green coverage rate（%）
Ecological
7.Rate of air quality（%）
Dimension
8.Attainment rate of the industrial waste water discharge （%）
9.Industrial waste gas treatment rate（%）
2.Environmental
10.Comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste （%）
management
11.Urban sewage centralized treatment rate（%）
12.Harmless treatment rate of domestic garbage（%）
13.Energy consumption per unit of GDP (tons of standard coal /10,000 Yuan)
3.Environmentally
14.Main exhaust emission per unit of GDP (Kg./ 10,000 Yuan)
friendly
15.Wastewater discharge per unit of GDP (ton/10,000 Yuan)
16.Industrial solid waste per unit of GDP(ton/10,000 Yuan)
17.The proportion of increased value of the service sector covers in GDP（%）
2.
4.Economic structure
18.The proportion of resident consumption covers in GDP（%）
Economic
19.Rate of urbanization（%）
Dimension
20.Urban and rural residents per capita savings deposit(Yuan)
21.Urban per capita disposable income(Yuan)
5.Development
22.Rural per capita net income(Yuan)
performance
23.Urban per capita disposable income increase from the previous year（%）
24.Rural per capita disposable income increase from the previous year（%）
25.Urban per capita consumption expenditure (Yuan)
26.The proportion of environmental protection spending in general budget expenditure of
local finance （%）
3.
Political
Dimension
6.Environmental
27.Publicity of PM2.5
protecting act
28.If serious environmental accidents happened within a year
29. Whether the public can know the detailed contents of EIA(environmental impact
assessment) project through network
30.The level of government website information disclosure
7.Political progress
31.Whether implemented multi-candidate election
32.Whether implemented and made experiments on officials property publicity
33.The number of world cultural heritage sites (number)
34.The number of state protected historic site (number)
8.Cultural heritage
35.The number of world intangible cultural heritage (number)
36.The number of national intangible cultural heritage (number)
37.Culture and sports spending accounts for the proportion of local fiscal expenditure（%）
4.
38.The number of museums available to per million people (number)
Cultural
9.Cultural input
39.The number of cultural centers available to per million people (number)
Dimension
40.The number of public libraries available to per million people (number)
41.The proportion of urban per capita annual cultural and educational entertainment
10.Productive
consumption accounts for the whole annual expenditure（%）
consumption
42.The proportion of rural per capita annual cultural and educational entertainment
consumption accounts for the whole annual expenditure（%）
43.The proportion of educational spending accounts for the general budget expenditure of
local finance（%）
44.The proportion of social security and employment spending accounts for the general
11.Livelihood input
budget expenditure of local finance（%）
45.The proportion of expenditure for public health accounts for the general budget
expenditure of local finance（%）
5.
46.Registered urban unemployment rate（%）
Society
47.Urban per capita living space (m2)
48.Rural per capita living space (m2)
49.Per capita road area (m2)
12.Quality of life
50.Public transportation vehicles available to every 10,000 people (number)
51.Medical workers available to every 10,000 people (number)
52.The average age of education (year)
53.Income ratio between country and city（country =1）
（1）Beautiful Environment-- Ecological Indexes
The 16th NCCCP initially formed the strategic thought of the construction of
ecological civilization. The 17th NCCCP included “the Construction of Ecological
Civilization’’ into the cause of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects
and made strategic deployment. The 18th NCCCP highlighted the position of
ecological civilization construction in “Five in One” and emphasized the ecological
civilization concept of respecting nature, complying with nature, as well as protecting
nature as the core thought of ecological civilization construction. Therefore, the weight
of ecological index should be highlighted in the index system. The second-class targets
of this evaluation system were ecological quality and environmental management. The
third-class targets were the number of the world natural heritage site, the number of
national nature reserve, the number of the national scenic spot, the number of 5A level
scenic spot, per capita green area 1 , urban green coverage rate, rate of air quality,
attainment rate of the industrial waste water discharge, industrial waste gas treatment
rate, comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste, urban sewage centralized
treatment rate, and harmless treatment rate of domestic garbage2.
Table 2. Beautiful environment-- Ecological Indexes
Second
-Class
Third-Class Targets
Description of Targets
The number of the world natural heritage site (number)
The world natural heritage, nature reserve and national scenic spot, etc.
The number of national nature reserve (number)
comprehensively reflects ecological background and ecological beauty degree of a
The number of the national scenic spot (number)
city. They are important indicators to measure natural resource diversity, ecological
The number of 5A level scenic spot (number)
beauty degree and the degree of natural protection of a city.
Targets
Ecological
2
Per capita green area (m )
quality
An important indicator reflecting the overall ecological environment level of a city
It fully reflects the urban greening situation and measures the urban environmental
Urban green coverage rate（%）
protection efforts.
It refers to the number of days when the air pollution index (API) achieves and is
Rate of air quality（%）
better than the second level accounts the percentage of the year. It reflects the
quality condition of urban air.
Environ
Attainment rate of the industrial waste water discharge
mental
（%）
manage
Industrial waste gas treatment rate（%）
An index reflecting the treatment of the industrial waste gas
Comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste
An index reflecting the treatment of the industrial solid waste
An index reflecting the treatment of the industrial wastewater
ment
1
Due to the incomplete 2011 data of per capita green area, it is changed to 2010 data. Data sources: China City Statistical
Yearbook, 2011.
2 Due to the incomplete 2011 data of attainment rate of the industrial waste water discharge, industrial waste gas treatment rate,
urban sewage centralized treatment rate, and harmless treatment rate of domestic garbage, it is changed to 2010 data. Data sources:
China City Statistical Yearbook, 2011, China Statistical Yearbook on Environment, 2011.
（%）
Urban sewage has become one of the main pollution sources of the urban
Urban sewage centralized treatment rate（%）
environment. Due to the accelerating urbanization, in order to make people live in a
good environment, we need to monitor urban sewage treatment.
Domestic garbage has become one of the main pollution sources of the urban
environment. Yet, garbage is called "misplaced resource". We should strengthen
Harmless treatment rate of domestic garbage（%）
resources recycling and ecological environment protection, and enhance the ability
of sustainable development. In order to make people live in a good environment, we
need to monitor the harmless treatment rate of domestic garbage
(2) Sustainable Development-- Economic Indexes
The 18th NCCCP pointed out: Pursuing economic prosperity as our central task
was essential for reinvigorating China, and the development was still the key to
resolving all problems in China. Only by promoting economic sustainable development,
could we build up a strong and prosperous country, maintain happiness and well-being
of the people, harmony and stability of the society, as well as the material base of
coordinated growth of “beauty”. Based on the concept of “Ecological Civilization"
construction of the 18th NCCCP and the basic requirements of the idea of "Good Life"
put forward by Xi Jinping, the economic indexes consisted of the environment friendly
level, optimization of economic structure and performance of economic development.
Specifically speaking, the environment friendly level included four third-class targets,
which
were
energy
consumption
per
unit
of
GDP,
main
exhaust
emission(SO2,NO2,dust) per unit of GDP, wastewater discharge per unit of GDP, and
industrial solid waste per unit of GDP, respectively. The optimization of economic
structure contained three third-class targets, which were the proportion of increased
value of the service sector covered in GDP, the proportion of resident consumption
covered in GDP, and the rate of urbanization. The performance of economic
development consisted of six third-class targets, which were urban and rural residents
per capita savings deposit, urban per capita disposable income, rural per capita net
income, urban per capita disposable income increase from the previous year, rural per
capita disposable income increase from the previous year, and urban per capita
consumption expenditure.
Table 3. Sustainable Development-- Economic Indexes
SecondClass
Third-Class Targets
Description of Targets
Energy consumption per unit of GDP (tons of standard coal
These indicators reflect the economic sustainable development level of a city,
/10,000 Yuan)
conservation and utilization efficiency of resources. Including resource
Main exhaust emission(SO2,NO2,dust) per unit of GDP (Kg./
consumption, environmental damage, and ecological benefit into economic
10,000 Yuan)
indicator system fully embodies the economic meaning of “Wonderful
Wastewater discharge per unit of GDP (ton/10,000 Yuan)
China”, and highly maintains consistent with the spirit of the report of the 18th
Industrial solid waste per unit of GDP(ton/10,000 Yuan)
NCCCP.
Targets
Environmental
ly friendly
An index reflecting the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure .It is
The proportion of increased value of the service sector covers
of great significance for the change of the economic development pattern and
in GDP（%）
the overall competitiveness of the city.
An index reflecting the optimization of demand structure of economic growth.
Improving the contribution of consumption demand can promote the balanced
Economic
The proportion of resident consumption covers in GDP（%）
development of the three demands (investment, consumption and export) and
structure
enhance the endogenous power of economic development.
An index reflecting the level of urbanization of a city. It measures the
Rate of urbanization（%）
improvement of urban and rural dual structure of “Wonderful China” and
embodies people’s pursuit of “Better Life”.
Urban and rural residents per capita savings deposit(Yuan)
Urban per capita disposable income(Yuan)
These are indexes reflecting people’s living standard. Choosing the per capita
Rural per capita net income(Yuan)
embodies not only the first essential meaning of development, but also the
Development
Urban per capita disposable income increase from the previous
people-oriented construction of “Wonderful China”. Meanwhile, selecting
performance
year（%）
growth speed gives full consideration to the change of people’s living
Rural per capita disposable income increase from the previous
standard for the sake of measuring the actual performance of “Wonderful
year（%）
Life”.
Urban per capita consumption expenditure (Yuan)
(3) Good governance-- Political Indexes
The 18th NCCCP pointed out: we kept to the socialist path of making political
advance with Chinese characteristics and promoting reform of the political structure.
The reform of the political structure was an important part of China’s overall reform.
We must continue to make both active and prudent efforts to carry out the reform of the
political structure, and make people’s democracy more extensive, fuller in scope and
sounder in practice. We must ensure the unity of the leadership of the Party, the position
of the people as masters of the country and law-based governance. To guarantee the
fundamental position of the people as masters of the country and to reach the goal of
enhancing the vitality of the Party and country and keeping the people fully motivated,
we should expand socialist democracy, accelerate the building of a socialist country
based on the rule of law, and promote socialist political progress. In the “Wonderful
China” development blueprint, political indicators should fully embody the
contribution of the construction of ecological civilization, covering political
construction, the government action, public participation, and so on. The assessment
system contained two second-class targets of environmental protecting act
and political progress. The third-class targets were the proportion of environmental
protection spending in general budget expenditure of local finance, publicity of PM2.5,
if serious environmental accidents happened within a year, whether the public can
know the detailed contents of EIA (environmental impact assessment) project through
network, the proportion of the civil servants accounts for the working population3, the
3
Because the proportion of the civil servants accounts for the working population is not available in the temporary data source,
and the alternative index statistical caliber is not uniform, it is not listed in the temporary evaluation index system.
level of government website information disclosure
4
, whether implemented
multi-candidate election, whether implemented and made experiments on officials
property publicity.
Table 4. Good governance-- Political Indexes
SecondClass
Third-Class Targets
Description of Targets
Targets
The proportion of environmental
protection spending in general budget
An important indicator reflecting the investment of environmental protection
expenditure of local finance （%）
Reflecting the administrative action of a government on the disclosure of environmental information
Environment
Publicity of PM2.5
and the acceptance of public supervision
al protecting
act
If serious environmental accidents
Reflecting the capability of a government on the maintenance of environmental protection system
happened within a year
Whether the public can know the
Reflecting the right to be informed condition on major issues of environment protection and actual
detailed contents of EIA project
problems involving the peoples’ vital interests.
through network
the proportion of the civil servants
Reflecting the employee structure of civil servants in a city. It helps to strictly control the agency and
accounts for the working population
staffing, reduce leadership positions and the administrative cost.
The level of government website
Reflecting the degree of government information disclosure and measuring whether the people enjoy
information disclosure
the right of participation and supervision
Political
Reflecting the political democratic progress degree, the report of the 18th NCCCP points out: we
progress
Whether
implemented
multi-candidate election
ensure that the people conduct democratic elections, decision-making, administration and oversight in
accordance with the law. We should give greater scope to the important role the rule of law plays in
the country's governance and in social management.
Whether
implemented
and
made
Reflecting the problems of government credit, officials’ self-discipline and administrative efficiency.
experiments on officials property
Property publicity helps to build a clean and honest, and efficient service-oriented government.
publicity
(4) Prosperous Culture—Culture Indexes
The 18th NCCCP pointed out: to develop a strong socialist culture in China and to
4 Taking the annual authoritative information issued by the Software Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China as evaluation score.
achieve the great renewal of the Chinese nation, we must create a new surge in
promoting socialist culture and bring about its great development and enrichment,
increase China's cultural soft power, and enable culture to guide social trends, educate
the people, serve society, and boost development. To develop a strong socialist culture
in China, we must take the socialist path of promoting cultural advance with Chinese
characteristics. Cultural construction also played an important role in ecological
civilization construction. The cultural index included the natural endowment and
protection level of cultural resources, cultural input and infrastructure construction
level as well as cultural production and consumption, etc. The cultural index consisted
of three second-class targets of cultural heritage, cultural inputs, and productive
consumption. The second-class target of cultural heritage contained four third-class
targets which were the number of world cultural heritage sites, the number of state
protected historic site, the number of world intangible cultural heritage, and the number
of national intangible cultural heritage. The second-class target of cultural inputs
contained five third-class targets which were culture and sports spending accounts for
the proportion of local fiscal expenditure, the propaganda of ecological environment
protection accounted for the proportion of urban propaganda cost 5 , the number of
museums available to per million people, the number of cultural centers available to per
million people, the number of public libraries available to per million people. The
second-class target of productive consumption contained three third-class targets which
5
Because the index (propaganda of ecological environment protection accounted for the proportion of urban propaganda cost )
does not have unified statistics in the existing statistical system, it is not listed in the evaluation index system.
were the increased value of cultural industry accounted for the proportion of GDP6, the
proportion of urban per capita annual cultural and educational entertainment
consumption accounts for the whole annual expenditure, and the proportion of rural per
capita annual cultural and educational entertainment consumption accounts for the
whole annual expenditure.
Table 5. Prosperous Culture—Culture Indexes
Second-Class
Third-Class Targets
Description of Targets
The number of world cultural heritage sites (number)
An important indicator reflecting material cultural heritage and
Targets
protection of traditional culture of a city
The number of state protected historic site (number)
Cultural heritage
The number of world intangible cultural heritage
An important indicator reflecting intangible cultural heritage and
(number)
protection of traditional culture of a city.
The number of national intangible cultural heritage
(number)
An important indicator reflecting the cultural input of a city and
Culture and sports spending accounts for the
measuring the condition of cultural input of a city.
proportion of local fiscal expenditure（%）
The propaganda of ecological environment protection
Reflect the role the local culture plays in the construction of
accounted for the proportion of urban propaganda
ecological civilization.
cost
Cultural input
The number of museums available to per million
people (number)
An indicator reflecting cultural infrastructure construction level of
The number of cultural centers available to per
a city and providing cultural service and prosperous cultural life
million people (number)
for the people.
The number of public libraries available to per million
people (number)
The increased value of cultural industry accounted for
An important indicator reflecting the development of cultural
the proportion of GDP
industry of a city.
The proportion of urban per capita annual cultural and
Productive
educational entertainment consumption accounts for
consumption
the whole annual expenditure（%）
An indicator reflecting urban and rural cultural and educational
entertainment consumption. It is an important criterion to measure
The proportion of rural per capita annual cultural and
the condition of urban and rural people's cultural life.
educational entertainment consumption accounts for
the whole annual expenditure（%）
Because “the increased value of cultural industry” does not have unified statistical caliber in the available data sources, we
cannot calculate its proportion in GDP. Therefore, it is not listed in the temporary evaluation index system.
6
5）Harmonious Society-- Social Indexes
The 18th NCCCP pointed out: Strengthening social development was an
important guarantee for maintaining social harmony and stability. We must intensify
our efforts to improve the basic public service system, strengthen and make innovations
in social management, and boost the building of a harmonious socialist society in order
to uphold the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. We
must work hard to run education to the satisfaction of the people; deliver a better job in
creating employment; promote coordinated development of the social security system
in urban and rural areas; and improve people’s health. In strengthening social
development, we must give high priority to ensuring and improving the people’s
wellbeing. The social indexes contained two second-class targets of livelihood input
and quality of life. Livelihood input consisted of three third-class targets which were
the proportion of educational spending accounts for the general budget expenditure of
local finance, the proportion of social security and employment spending accounts for
the general budget expenditure of local finance, and the proportion of expenditure for
public health accounts for the general budget expenditure of local finance. Quality of
life consisted of eight third-class targets which were registered urban unemployment
rate, urban per capita living space, rural per capita living space, per capita road area,
public transportation vehicles available to every 10,000 people, medical workers
available to every 10,000 people, the average age of education 7, and income ratio
7
The data of the index (the average age of education) is from the data of the sixth census.
between country and city.
Table 6. Harmonious Society-- Social Indexes
Second-Class
Third-Class Targets
Description of Targets
Targets
The proportion of educational spending accounts for the
general budget expenditure of local finance（%）
An important index reflecting the input of
The proportion of social security and employment spending
Livelihood
education, social security, and health care. It
accounts for the general budget expenditure of local finance
input
（%）
reflects the spirit of comrade Xi Jinping’s address
at the standing committee.
The proportion of expenditure for public health accounts for the
general budget expenditure of local finance（%）
An important indicator reflecting the employment
situation
Registered urban unemployment rate（%）
of
the
people,
measuring
the
development level of “more stable work”.
Urban per capita living space (m2)
An important indicator reflecting the living
Rural per capita living space (m2)
conditions of the residents.
Per capita road area (m2)
A comprehensive index reflecting whether the
Public transportation vehicles available to every 10,000 people
urban traffic construction benefit to the people.
(number)
Measuring the capability of providing human
Quality of life
resources giving medical and health service to the
Medical workers available to every 10,000 people (number)
masses.
A comprehensive index reflecting the urban
education level of the permanent residents of 15
The average age of education (year)
years old and above
An important indicator reflecting the level of
Income ratio between country and city（country =1）
income difference between urban and rural
residents.
Ⅲ.Evaluation Methods
The comprehensive index of five aspects involving Ecology, economy, politics,
culture, and society was the main basis of the construction level of “wonderful China”.
Evaluation method mainly based on the UN Human Development Index (HDI)
measurement method. The basic idea was to calculate the index of a single target
(namely, dimensionless method), which was based on each evaluation index of the
upper and lower limit threshold (i.e. the maximum and the minimum). Then according
to the sum of index weight, we measured the provincial construction level of
“wonderful China”. The index calculated by this method can not only compare the
relative precedence of the overall construction level among different provinces, but also
observe the relative place of first-class targets among various provinces.
1. Determination of Index Upper and Lower Limit Threshold Value and the
Dimensionless Method of Targets
In the calculating the index of each single target, we must process each target with
dimensionless method. The key to dimensionless process was to determine the upper
and lower limit threshold value of every target. We recorded the actual value of the
target
i as X i , the weight of the target i as Wi , the lower threshold and upper
i
Xi
Z
threshold respectively as X min and max , the dimensionless result as i (
i stands
for the ordinal of the third-class targets, j stands for the ordinal of the second-class
targets).
Dimensionless method, also called the standardization of data, was a method of
eliminating the dimensional effect of the original variable (index) through the
mathematical transformation. According to the formula（1）and（2）, The value Zi of
each dimensionless target was among the interval [0, 100].
Dimensionless formula of Positive index:
（1）
Dimensionless formula of Negative index:
（2）
2. Determination of the Index Weight
The key to a successful and comprehensive evaluation of “Wonderful China” lay
in determining the weight of the main targets in accordance with the guiding principles
of guidance quality, rationality, and objectivity. In order to manifest the prominent
place of ecological civilization, we set the weight of ecology, a first-class target, to 28%
based on a balanced development of “Five in One”. Then, by the equally-weighted
method, we set the weight of the other four first-class targets of economy, politics,
culture, and society to 18%. Last, according to the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP),
we set the weight of a certain dimension to the corresponding second-class and
third-class targets equally in accordance with the index level, and worked out the
weight of the secondary target
(see table 7)and the weight of the third-class target
.
Table 7 Weight of the Target
First-Class Targets
Weight（%）
Ecology
28
Economy
Politics
Culture
Society
18
18
18
18
Second-Class Targets
Weight（%）
1.Ecological quality
14
2.Environmental management
14
3.Environmentally friendly
6
4.Economic structure
6
5.Development performance
6
6.Environmental protecting act
9
7.Political progress
9
8.Cultural heritage
6
9.Cultural input
6
10.Productive consumption
6
11.Livelihood input
9
12.Quality of life
9
3. Formation of the Dimension Score and Comprehensive Score
(1). The Calculation Method of Each Dimension Score
According to the formula (3), we could get the score of a dimension
(k stands
for the ordinal of the first-class targets) by calculating the dimensionless value and the
weight of all the indexes of a certain dimension.
（3）
(2). The Calculation Method of Comprehensive Score
According to the formula (4), we could work out the comprehensive score of the
“Wonderful China” construction level by calculating the dimensionless sub-value and
the weight of the 53 indicators in the “Wonderful China” assessment system.
（4）
Ⅳ Treatment Method of the Missing Value
Due to the differences of publicity situation and statistical caliber of each city,
there were data missing problems of some indicators in a certain city. For a city, if the
data of the third-class target i in the second-class target j missed, the third-class target i
would not be included in the calculation. Its weight
would be allotted to the other
third-class targets of the second-class target j. The weight of the other third-class targets
would be
,
second-class target;
(
stands for the number of the third-class targets in a
stands for the number of the missing data of the second-class
target).
Ⅴ. Notes about Shenzhen Index Weight Related with Rural Areas
Shenzhen urbanization rate was 100%. Therefore, we did not calculate the value
of the four targets of rural per capita net income, rural per capita disposable income
increase from the previous year, the proportion of rural per capita annual cultural and
educational entertainment consumption accounts for the whole annual expenditure, and
rural per capita living space.
We could directly evaluate the four indicators of urban per capita disposable
income, urban per capita disposable income increase from the previous year, the
proportion of urban per capita annual cultural and educational entertainment
consumption accounts for the whole annual expenditure, and urban per capita living
space. Therefore, we added the weight of the above four indicators, which were not
taken into calculation, to the corresponding urban residents index. Then the weight of
the four corresponding urban residents indexes became twice of their original weight.
Ⅳ. Data Sources
Data Sources
First-
Second-
Class
Class
Targets
Targets
Third-Class Targets
Data Sources
The number of the world natural heritage site (number)
The number of national nature reserve (number)
China Statistical Yearbook
2012;
China
City
Statistical Yearbook 2011;
The number of the national scenic spot (number)
China Statistical Yearbook
Ecological
The number of 5A level scenic spot (number)
quality
Beautiful
on Environment 2011;,
Per capita green area (m2)
the official website of
Urban green coverage rate（%）
National
Tourism
Rate of air quality（%）
Administration
of
the
Republic
of
environmen
Attainment rate of the industrial waste water discharge （%）
t
Industrial waste gas treatment rate（%）
People’s
China,
Ministry
of
Environmental Protection
Environme
Comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste （%）
of the People’s Republic of
Urban sewage centralized treatment rate（%）
China,
environmental
protection
agency
ntal
managemen
and
forestry bureau of every
t
city; the bulletin of the
Harmless treatment rate of domestic garbage（%）
national
social
economy
and
development
of
every city 2011, etc.
Energy consumption per unit of GDP (tons of standard coal /10,000 Yuan)
Environme
Main exhaust emission per unit of GDP (Kg./ 10,000 Yuan)
ntally
Wastewater discharge per unit of GDP (ton/10,000 Yuan)
friendly
China
City
Statistical
Yearbook 2011,
Industrial solid waste per unit of GDP(ton/10,000 Yuan)
the
The proportion of increased value of the service sector covers in GDP（%）
Sustainable
developmen
Economic
provincial
municipal
The proportion of resident consumption covers in GDP（%）
yearbooks,
Rate of urbanization（%）
The
Urban and rural residents per capita savings deposit(Yuan)
government,
structure
website
and
statistical
of
city
t
Developme
Urban per capita disposable income(Yuan)
bureau, and the bureau of
nt
Rural per capita net income(Yuan)
performanc
Urban per capita disposable income increase from the previous year（%）
e
environmental protection
statistics, etc.
Rural per capita disposable income increase from the previous year（%）
Urban per capita consumption expenditure (Yuan)
The proportion of environmental protection spending in general budget
China Statistical Yearbook
Environme
expenditure of local finance （%）
2012,the provincial and
ntal
Publicity of PM2.5
municipal statistical
protecting
If serious environmental accidents happened within a year
yearbooks, The official
act
Whether the public can know the detailed contents of EIA(environmental impact
website of ministry of
assessment) project through network
related party and
the proportion of the civil servants accounts for the working population
government in each city,
Political
The level of government website information disclosure
The website of
progress
Whether implemented multi-candidate election
environmental protection
Whether implemented and made experiments on officials property publicity
bureau, and the bureau of
Good
governance
finance of every city,
IPE(Institute of Public and
Environmental
Affairs),etc.
（continue）
First-
Second-
Class
Class
Targets
Targets
Third-Class Targets
Data Sources
The number of world cultural heritage sites (number)
Cultural
The number of state protected historic site (number)
heritage
The number of world intangible cultural heritage (number)
The number of national intangible cultural heritage (number)
The official website of
State Administration of
Cultural
Heritage,
the
Culture and sports spending accounts for the proportion of local fiscal expenditure
Intangible
（%）
Cultural
Heritage in China, and
The propaganda of ecological environment protection accounted for the
Prosperous
culture
Cultural
input
the
Intangible
Cultural
proportion of urban propaganda cost
Heritage in the World; the
The number of museums available to per million people (number)
provincial and municipal
The number of cultural centers available to per million people (number)
statistical
The number of public libraries available to per million people (number)
2012; The bulletin of the
The increased value of cultural industry accounted for the proportion of GDP
national
Productive
The proportion of urban per capita annual cultural and educational entertainment
consumptio
consumption accounts for the whole annual expenditure（%）
n
The proportion of rural per capita annual cultural and educational entertainment
social
yearbooks
economy
of
and
development
of
every city 2011,etc.
consumption accounts for the whole annual expenditure（%）
The proportion of educational spending accounts for the general budget
expenditure of local finance（%）
Livelihood
The proportion of social security and employment spending accounts for the
input
general budget expenditure of local finance（%）
Harmonious
The proportion of expenditure for public health accounts for the general budget
China Statistical Yearbook
expenditure of local finance（%）
2012, the provincial and
Registered urban unemployment rate（%）
municipal statistical
Urban per capita living space (m )
yearbooks of 2012; The
Rural per capita living space (m2)
bulletin of the national
2
society
Quality of
Per capita road area (m2)
life
Public transportation vehicles available to every 10,000 people (number)
economy and social
development, etc.
Medical workers available to every 10,000 people (number)
The average age of education (year)
Income ratio between country and city（country =1）
Ⅴ.The Results of Preliminary Calculation
According to the above evaluation index system of the construction level of
“Wonderful China” capitals and sub-provincial cities, the researching group calculated
the comprehensive index of the construction level of 28 evaluated cities in 2012.
The results were as follows:
1. Comparison of the Comprehensive Index among 28 Cities
The comprehensive urban construction level of the 28 cities was uneven, but the
gap was narrow, showing that as China’s main and core cities, the macro differences of
urban construction level of were not obvious. The construction level of every city was
below 65, reflecting that all the cities should further improve the level of construction.
The top ten cities on a comprehensive ranking list were, in order, Guangzhou,
Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Xian, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Changsha and
Dalian.
Fig.3
Comparison of the Comprehensive Index
2. Comparison of the Sub Index among 28 Cities
(1) Beautiful Environment
The fluctuation of ecological index among every city was small, showing that
the cities had certain differences in ecological construction and protection, but not
significant. From the perspective of specific score, most cities scored below 60. We
needed further strengthen the ecological investment and environmental protection
efforts.
The top ten cities on an environmental ranking list were, in order, Chengdu, Dalian,
Hangzhou, Shijiazhuang, Kunming, Guangzhou, Yinchuan, Shenzhen, Qingdao, and
Haikou.
Fig.3
Ecological Construction Index
(2) Sustainable Development
The overall difference of economic development index was not significant. As the
core provincial cities, their economic development reached a certain level. But only
four cities scored more than sixty, indicating that the construction of ecological
economy remained to be further improved.
The top ten cities on an economic ranking list were, in order, Guangzhou,
Shenzhen, Xian, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu and
Changsha.
Fig. 4
Economic Construction Index
(3) Good Governance
The overall level of political construction index was high, but some cities in the
future development process needed to be improved and perfected, realizing the green
politics and people’s democracy.
The top ten cities on the political ranking list were, in order, Changsha, Hefei,
Ningbo, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Haikou and Chengdu.
Fig. 5
Political Construction Index
(4) Prosperous Culture
The overall level of cultural construction index in each city was low, only Nanjing
scored more than sixty, showing that the cities needed to increase the input of cultural
protection, cultural transmission, cultural development, and so on.
The top ten cities on the cultural ranking list were, in order, Nanjing, Guangzhou,
Hangzhou, Xian, Chengdu, Kunming, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Jinan and Ningbo.
Fig. 6
Cultural Construction Index
(5) Harmonious Society
The overall score of social construction index was not high, only Haikou scoring
over 60. It showed that there was still a certain gap among most of the cities in social
construction of ensuring the people’s “good life”, and we should strengthen the efforts
of social construction.
The top ten cities on the cultural ranking list were, in order, Haikou, Jinan, Taiyuan,
Lanzhou, Xi’an, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou.
Fig. 6
Cultural Construction Index
Annex I：
Capitals and Sub-Provincial Cities on the Comprehensive Ranking List of
“Wonderful China”（2012）
Ranking
City
Comprehensive Index
1
Guangzhou
62.66
2
Hangzhou
59.63
3
Chengdu
57.57
4
Nanjing
57.46
5
Shenzhen
56.12
6
Xian
54.74
7
Ningbo
54.43
8
Fuzhou
54.26
9
Changsha
53.36
10
Dalian
51.75
11
Haikou
51.73
12
Kunming
50.25
13
Jinan
49.98
14
Xiamen
49.62
15
Qingdao
49.05
16
Hefei
48.95
17
Nanchang
48.09
18
Shenyang
48.06
19
Shijiazhuang
47.33
20
Zhengzhou
47.09
AnnexⅡ：
Capitals and Sub-Provincial Cities on the Ecological Ranking List of
“Wonderful China”（2012）
Ranking
City
Sub Index
1
Chengdu
73.80
2
Dalian
69.61
3
Hangzhou
67.26
4
Shijiazhuang
67.22
5
Kunming
66.24
6
Guangzhou
63.34
7
Yinchuan
62.71
8
Shenzhen
62.65
9
Qingdao
62.11
10
Haikou
60.04
11
Xiamen
59.62
12
Xi’an
58.57
13
Fuzhou
58.18
14
Ningbo
54.72
15
Nanchang
53.64
16
Wuhan
52.91
17
Hefei
51.59
18
Changsha
50.34
19
Jinan
49.04
20
Huhehaote
48.95
Annex Ⅲ：
Capitals and Sub-Provincial Cities on the Economic Ranking List of“Wonderful
China”（2012）
Ranking
City
Sub Index
1
Guangzhou
72.39
2
Shenzhen
64.88
3
Xi’an
61.87
4
Nanjing
61.36
5
Fuzhou
59.70
6
Qingdao
57.65
7
Hangzhou
57.24
8
Shenyang
56.47
9
Chengdu
56.28
10
Changsha
55.93
11
Jinan
55.15
12
Ningbo
54.32
13
Xiamen
53.76
14
Dalian
50.47
15
Haerbin
49.25
16
Haikou
48.77
17
Zhengzhou
48.40
18
Huhehaote
47.58
19
Wuhan
46.36
20
Nanchang
44.56
Annex Ⅳ：
Capitals and Sub-Provincial Cities on the Political Ranking List of “Wonderful
China”（2012）
Ranking
City
Sub Index
1
Changsha
88.35
2
Hefei
85.58
3
Ningbo
84.48
4
Shenzhen
82.76
5
Guangzhou
75.78
6
Nanjing
71.60
7
Xiamen
71.17
8
Hangzhou
71.04
9
Haikou
70.39
10
Chengdu
69.86
11
Fuzhou
69.52
12
Nanchang
67.64
13
Wuhan
67.36
14
Dalian
66.01
15
Zhengzhou
65.94
16
Kunming
61.05
17
Qingdao
59.55
18
Jinan
59.14
Yinchuan
56.50
Xi’an
55.50
19
20
AnnexⅤ：
Capitals and Sub-Provincial Cities on the Cultural Ranking List of “Wonderful
China”（2012）
Ranking
City
Sub Index
1
Nanjing
60.78
2
Guangzhou
50.59
3
Hangzhou
41.75
4
Xi’an
38.76
5
Chengdu
37.11
6
Kunming
32.41
7
Shenyang
31.69
8
Shenzhen
28.45
9
Jinan
28.16
10
Ningbo
26.97
11
Huhehaote
26.77
12
Taiyuan
25.98
13
Changsha
25.60
14
Fuzhou
24.98
15
Hefei
21.87
16
Qingdao
21.74
17
Wuhan
20.99
18
Zhengzhou
20.96
19
Xiamen
19.19
20
Xining
18.69
Annex Ⅵ：
Capitals and Sub-Provincial Cities on the Social Ranking List of “Wonderful
China”（2012）
Ranking
City
Sub Index
1
Hainan
66.69
2
Jinan
58.95
3
Taiyuan
57.81
4
Lanzhou
57.22
5
Xi’an
56.86
6
Fuzhou
56.75
7
Hangzhou
56.61
8
Nanchang
56.52
9
Shijiazhuang
55.24
10
Zhengzhou
51.91
11
Ningbo
51.50
12
Nanjing
51.29
13
Guangzhou
50.84
14
Shenyang
49.12
15
Kunming
48.60
16
Changsha
48.23
17
Dalian
47.88
18
Haerbin
47.25
19
Xining
47.13
20
Chengdu
41.78
38
39