BEIJING - As the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is under way, foreign experts and officials said the scientific outlook on development is not only important to China's future development, but exemplary for other developing nations.

Indrananda Abeysekera, president of the Association for Sri Lanka- China Social and Cultural Cooperation, said that in face of new challenges, the CPC leadership has brought forward new governing philosophies and policies, among which the scientific outlook on development is a major one.

During the past decade, China's development was particularly noticeable, he said.

Under the CPC's leadership, China has achieved balanced development of urban and rural areas, of the economy and the society, of man and nature, and of domestic progress and opening up to the outside world, he said.

Abeysekera said China's development has not only promoted people's livelihood, but also contributed to world prosperity.

While China enjoys favorable economic growth, it has also helped other countries and made contributions to peace and development in the world, he added.

Gerishon Ikiara, a Kenyan economist, told Xinhua that the scientific outlook on development has been raised to new theoretic heights, and will guide the CPC's future policy-making.

The scientific outlook on development places people's interests at the core of decision-making, and requires practical approaches to development problems, he said. The theory has also provided space for innovation, he added.

Donald Lewis, a research fellow at Stanford Law School, said in a written interview with Xinhua that the CPC leadership has successfully led the country upwards by adhering to the theory of scientific outlook on development.

The theory, he said, has ushered in a new era in the history of the party and the country through the adoption of a more benign, humanistic approach to economic and social development: embracing sustainable development, setting compassionate yet achievable social welfare goals for all Chinese people, increasing participatory democracy and placing a much-needed emphasis on the environment.

It is critically important to the country's future harmonious development, he added.

Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, former general secretary of the Communist Party of India, said the scientific outlook on development, a key theory that guides China's socialism building, seeks truth from objective reality.

He said the theory has played a crucial role in China's tremendous achievements over the past 10 years and is also worth learning from by developing nations like India.

Shinichiro Shiranishi, director general of the Japan-China Society, said the CPC has not only pursued economic development, but crafted policies that could boost sustainable and harmonious development based on the scientific outlook on development so as to further promote reforms.

He added that such a move has made huge contributions to maintaining the stability and development in Asia and around the world.

Majib Ahmad Khan, president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, said emphasizing the volume of GDP is very important at the initial stage of development and China has done well in this respect.

As the economy grows, however, problems like development imbalances should be addressed, he said, adding China also has done well in this regard by increasing the emphasis on the development in the country's western areas over the past 10 years.

Pham Van Linh, a senior member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, said one of the major reasons for China to achieve such a great success is that the CPC and the Chinese government have been thoroughly implementing the scientific outlook on development, based on which economic transformation policies are worked out and enforced to push ahead economic transformation and development.

Another important factor is that the CPC has created a rather sophisticated system of theories in accordance with China's existing development circumstances, he added.

Xulio Rios, director of the Galician Institute of Analysis and International Documentation, told Xinhua in a written interview that building a harmonious society and implementing the scientific outlook on development are inseparable.

China has already begun to focus not merely on economic development, as it is preparing conditions for building a country that is not only of material abundance but with the ability to confront major challenges at all times, added the China expert.

He further elaborated that these challenges include problems of population, welfare, the structural adjustment in the public and private sectors, and others.

For 10 years, China has made preliminary changes in many fields, and ushered in a new stage at which the country could become more prosperous and democratic, he added.

Indonesia's International Daily News said in an editorial on Monday that the keynote report delivered by CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao at the congress emphasized the scientific outlook on development, which, in terms of nation-building goals, demands the build-up of a well-off society and a "beautiful China."

It means that development and ecological conservancy should be given equal emphasis to avoid environment deterioration, the article said.

Indonesia is also a developing nation, and can learn from China's such nation-building goals to boost its own economic development, the editorial added.