The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Thursday moved to lift the status of the Scientific Outlook on Development into a position like the Deng Xiaoping Theory as the theoretical guidance for the Party, ordering more than 82 million Party members to adhere to it for a long time.

In his report to the 18th CPC National Congress that opened Thursday, Chinese leader Hu Jintao said the Scientific Outlook on Development is the most important achievement the CPC made in the past decade.

"Together with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development is the theoretical guidance the Party must adhere to for a long time," Hu told about 2,300 delegates at the opening of the congress.

Over the past ten years, China has advanced to the world's second-largest economy from the sixth place in the world. Its productive forces and economic, scientific and technological strength have increased considerably. Its overall national strength and international competitiveness and influence have also been enhanced substantially.

Hu said these historic successes are attributable to the correct guidance of the Party's basic theory, line, program and experience.

Since its founding in 1921, the CPC has always been keen to come up with theoretical innovations to guide Party members in resolving practical key problems according to the latest changes inside the Party and the country.

The Scientific Outlook on Development was proposed by the 16th CPC Central Committee in 2003, against the backdrop of rapid economic growth and a series of problems including excessive consumption of resources, serious environmental pollution and a widening gap between the rich and poor.

The concept has championed people's interests and advocated comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development. At the Party's 17th National Congress held in 2007, the Scientific Outlook on Development was first written into the CPC Constitution.

The Scientific Outlook on Development was created by integrating Marxism with the reality of contemporary China and with the underlying features of our times, and it fully embodies the Marxist worldview on and methodology for development, he said.

"This theory provides new scientific answers to the major questions of what kind of development China should achieve in a new environment and how the country should achieve it," Hu said.

The Scientific Outlook on Development is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the Communist Party of China and a "powerful theoretical weapon" for guiding all the work of the Party and country, Hu said.

He noted there is still "much room for improvement in our work" and there are "a lot of difficulties and problems on our road ahead", saying the unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development "remains a big problem."

"As we advance toward the future, thoroughly applying the Scientific Outlook on Development is of major immediate significance and far-reaching historical significance for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must apply it throughout the course of modernization and to every aspect of Party building," he said.

In applying the Scientific Outlook on Development, the whole Party must more purposefully make promoting economic and social development the top priority, take putting people first as the core requirement, make pursuing comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development the basic requirement and take the holistic approach as the fundamental way.

Hu said the salient features of the Scientific Outlook on Development are freeing up the mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping up with the times and being realistic and pragmatic.

He called on the whole Party to boldly engage in practice and make changes and innovations, respond to the call of the times, follow the aspirations of the people, ensure that the Party is always full of vigor and that China always has the driving force for development to open a bright future for developing socialism with Chinese characteristics through the creative practices of the Party and the people.

Hu Angang, a prominent economist with Tsinghua University, said the Scientific Outlook on Development, originated in China, is a classic summarization of the "China Path" in the new period.

"It will be a theme we have to follow and a fundamental principle that guides various of fields for quite a long time," Hu Angang, also a delegate to the CPC national congress, told Xinhua in an interview on the sidelines of the congress.

"We should not only unswervingly adhere to the Scientific Outlook on Development, but further enrich and interpret the theory according to future practices," the economist said.

The professor expected the scientific development theory would further evolve by highlighting innovations and promoting development that would be environment-friendly, coordinated, inclusive for 1.3 billion people and boost win-win relations with other countries.