Guangdong party boss Wang Yang has called on the public to cast aside the long-held notion that happiness is a gift from the party and the government.
'It is the people's right to pursue happiness and it is the party and the government's responsibility to do good for the people,' Wang told the opening of the province's 11th Communist Party congress yesterday. 'We should eradicate the wrong concept that happiness is a benevolent gift from the party and the government.'
Wang is considered a leading voice for reform and a contender for a seat on the Politburo's supreme Standing Committee this year.
The remarks represent a departure from years of propaganda that has urged citizens to view the party as a benefactor and provider of good fortune.
The theme echoes Wang's two-year-old 'Happy Guangdong' campaign, in which the province set up a happiness index and encouraged people to strive for joy in their lives.
The southern economic powerhouse has vowed in its five-year plan to slow growth to a more manageable 8 per cent from the 12.5 per cent rate of recent years while it focuses on helping people find 'real happiness'.
But residents criticise the Guangdong authorities for failing to provide enough jobs, social welfare, medical services and housing - which many argue are elements necessary to happiness.
