Opening Ceremony and Theoretical Seminar for "Research on Precise Supply of Urban Public Services and Better Life Index," a Major Special Project of the Institute of Capital Governance, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Held in Beijing

On December 5, 2025, the opening ceremony and theoretical seminar for the 2025 Major Urban Governance Special Project of the Capital Governance Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), titled "Research on the Precision Provision of Urban Public Services and the Better Life Index," was held in Conference Room 1237 of the Institute of Marxism Studies (IMS) within the CASS Research Building. Leaders, experts, scholars, and project team members from institutions such as the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), CASS, the China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS), the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, Xiamen University, Zhejiang Normal University, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, and Liaoning University of Technology attended the meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Professor Zhang Shuhua, Director of the CASS Institute of Political Science. Professor Luo Wendong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the CASS Institute of Marxism Studies, attended the meeting and delivered an address. Professor Zhang Shuhua introduced the background of the project's establishment, presented the requirements for the final project output, and pointed out that research on the "better life" ^[1] must incorporate human beings as the subjective factor.

Professor Luo Wendong welcomed the attending leaders and experts and extended congratulations to the project team members. He noted that the project research must complete a summary and synthesis of the 14th Five-Year Plan ^[2] and investigate issues related to Beijing's 15th Five-Year Plan. He emphasized that focus should be placed on producing outputs categorized by type and layer, and that coordination and cooperation with the Beijing municipal government and other departments should be strengthened. He expressed hope that the project team would produce solid theoretical analysis, conduct in-depth investigations and research, leverage the advantages of disciplinary collaboration, advance scientific research work in an orderly manner according to plan, and complete high-quality results on time, serving the governance and development of the capital with more "refined and masterful works" (jingpin lizuo).

Project leader Professor Liu Zhichang of the Institute of Marxism Studies, along with sub-project leaders Professor Gao Guorong, Deputy Director of the CASS Institute of Modern History, and Professor Han Yu, Director of the Institute of American History at Xiamen University, gave brief reports on the research background and significance, research content, schedule, expected results, and research assumptions.

The participating experts agreed that taking the capital city of Beijing as the primary object of research for the precision provision of urban public services and the Better Life Index holds significant theoretical and practical importance, and they offered comments and suggestions for the next stages of the project.

Professor Lyu Weizhou, Editor-in-Chief of the China Social Sciences Press, proposed that the research process should properly handle the relationships between theory and practice, macro and micro perspectives, and history and the future; she suggested that common prosperity should be incorporated into the indicator system when designing the Better Life Index.

Professor Xing Wei, Director of the Social Affairs Research Office of the Institute of Social Development at the NDRC, suggested that the precision provision of public services must pay attention to new circumstances such as changes in population size and structure, adjustments in resource allocation, and digital-intelligent empowerment.

Professor Zeng Yi, Director of the Science and Technology Management Department of the China National Institute of Standardization, suggested that the project team refer to relevant international and national standards when designing the Better Life Index, and promote the eventual transformation of the project’s final results into a national standard for the evaluation of a "better life."

Associate Professor Luo Zhi from the Institute of Management at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences introduced the current status of the digital transformation of public services and raised methodological questions on how to evaluate the precision and level of public services.

The meeting was held in a hybrid format, combining an on-site meeting with a Tencent Video conference, with more than 20 people in attendance. (Text and images provided by Liu Zhichang)