It is a real challenge to substantiate something that is insubstantial.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has this ambition. It is considering drafting a happiness index of the Chinese people to better direct our decision makers' policy-making.

The bureau said it would include more human factors, including the happiness index, in its statistics system, reflecting more of the non-economic side of people's well-being.

While gross domestic product (GDP) is technically calculable, overall domestic happiness would seem not to be. It is, in essence, the psychological state of satisfaction, hedonic adaptation and social comparison - which can hardly be represented in figures.

Tempted by the convenience of calculable indices in gauging the world, economists have never given up the attempt to measure the spiritual side of the people. So comes the so-called hedonomics, or happiness economics.

Various institutions and government departments in the developed world have drafted similar human feeling indices to help assess public policies.

While the sense of happiness cannot be accurately calculated, it can to an extent be reflected by using some scientific tools, such as meaningful surveys.

The results can help us find out why people are dissatisfied and provide clues for public policy-making.

The global trend to study people's happiness by economic methodology is a sign of a focus shift from traditional material affluence to people's spiritual well-being.

China is doing well to incorporate that trend. It is pushing economic growth, but also attaching increasing importance to non-economic aspects, a drive mirrored by the government's efforts to build a harmonious society.

It has been recognized that unrestrained pursuit of GDP will not lead to harmony. Inadequate attention to the environment and human development will offset economic growth.

As a transitional society, China is especially vulnerable to such a development trap. Money cannot buy happiness, nor can economic growth.

While developing the economy, China needs to step up its efforts to improve people's medical, education, housing, and employment conditions, to name but a few. Economic growth will not automatically bring them those benefits.

The new plan by the NBS, in this sense, is a clearer sign that the country is moving in the right direction.

The drafting of the happiness index, however, is risky. It must be based on solid statistics and surveys. And it must be independent, free of any influence from political forces or vested interests.

Otherwise, an index that differs greatly from the general public feeling will not only be absurd, but risk leading policy-makers awry.

Editor: Wing