BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) has highlighted the concept of "socialist core value system" to lay the "moral and ideological foundations" for social harmony.     

    The concept of the "socialist core value system" was publicized for the first time at the recent Sixth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee, at which the CPC highlighted the importance of creating a "socialist harmonious society".

    "A socialist core value system will be essential to cultural harmony in the country", the CPC said in the "resolutions of the CPC Central Committee on major issues regarding the building of a harmonious socialist society" published on Wednesday.

    The Party said the value system should consist of Marxism, Socialism with Chinese characteristics, patriotism, the spirit of reform and innovation and the socialist sense of honor and disgrace.

    "The socialist core value system should be integrated into national education, promotion of ethics and the modernization drive," the Party said in the document.

    Analysts said the concept of a "socialist core value system" was based on China's past experiences in the promotion of morals and ideas.

    "The CPC Central Committee has been highly attentive in building and promoting a moral and ideological system corresponding with the development of China's socialist market economy," Xin Xiangyang, a research fellow on Marxism with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

    China's rapid economic development has led to significant changes to the Chinese society and people's way of living and thinking.

    "Such unprecedented social changes have brought great vitality to China's development and progress, but have resulted in various contradictions and problems," the Party said in the resolutions.

    Over the past decade, the Chinese authority has launched several campaigns to promote social morality amid worries that some Chinese people have lost their direction and have blurred the difference between right and wrong.

    In the 1980s, the Chinese authority issued a package of moral instructions - the Five Standards, Four Virtues and Three Loves - to serve as a moral yardstick for Chinese who had emerged from the chaos of the cultural revolution and entered the era of reform and opening-up.

    On March this year, another large-scale morality drive was launched in the form of President Hu Jintao's list of eight honors and disgraces, which stressed the boundary between the right and wrong.

    The Eight Honors and Disgraces are as follows:

    -- Love the country; do it no harm

    -- Serve the people; never betray them

    -- Follow science; discard superstition

    -- Be diligent; not indolent

    -- Be united, help each other; make no gains at other's expense     

    -- Be honest and trustworthy; do not sacrifice ethics for profit

    -- Be disciplined and law-abiding; not chaotic and lawless

    -- Live plainly, work hard; do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.

    The Party stressed Hu's list of eight honors and disgraces in the resolutions, saying that the moral virtues including patriotism, professional dedication and honesty should be further promoted and government, business and social credibility should be enhanced.

    The Party, in a rare move, also touched upon the individual's mental health, saying that more attention should be paid to people's psychological harmony.

    "We must improve psychological care and guide people to view themselves, others and society as a whole in the correct way..." the document said.

    The Party also called for more education about mental health to build a "positive, rational and calm social mentality of self-esteem and confidence".

    Li Zhongjie, deputy director of the Party History Research Center of the CPC Central Committee, said the "socialist core value system" has rich connotations, which should cover the areas of economic development, social affluence, democracy and cultural civilization.

    Li said the basic task of building the "socialist core value system" is to analyze and handle problems from the perspective of harmony and improve relevant laws, regulations and social criteria to better regulate social activities. Enditem