Whole-process people's democracy brimming with dynamism in China

The staff of the legislative outreach office of the Xiaobailou neighborhood in Tianjin Municipality listen to local residents' opinions on a draft law, Dec. 1, 2022. [Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo]

BEIJING -- As 2022 draws to an end, one thing is likely to remain in the memory of the Xiaobailou neighborhood in Tianjin Municipality: the adoption of the revised Law on Physical Culture and Sports on June 24.

The revised national law incorporated six of the neighborhood's suggestions on sports. A year earlier, a local legislative outreach office was established in the neighborhood. Since then, residents' opinions have been recorded and sent directly to the top legislature.

This offers a glimpse into how Chinese citizens are engaged in the country's whole-process people's democracy.

As China continues to pursue a path to democracy that suits its reality, Chinese Communists in the new era have comprehensively developed whole-process people's democracy, advanced socialist consultative democracy by way of extensive participation, reinforced the foundations that underline people's running of the country, and injected fresh vitality into democracy at the community level.

LEGISLATION ON OUR DOORSTEP

"Taking advantage of its proximity to residents, our legislative outreach office is able to carry out its work at their doorsteps, listen to their most authentic voices, and achieve democratic legislation in a more profound, proactive and extensive manner," said Yang Yi, who is in charge of the legislative work of the Xiaobailou neighborhood.

As of September this year, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) has set up 32 legislative outreach offices, covering all provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland.

Known as "direct trains," they serve as a direct link between ordinary people and China's top legislature, making it more convenient for the public to reach lawmakers and contribute wisdom to legislation.

The top legislature's move has inspired standing committees of provincial and municipal people's congresses to establish more than 5,500 legislative outreach offices of their own.

GOVERNANCE POWERED BY PUBLIC WILL

"The wind was so strong and it took forever for the bus to come. I couldn't feel my feet in the freezing weather," a resident of Miyun District in suburban Beijing said when they called the 12345 local citizen hotline to discuss their long wait for buses during the winter.

"I waited for the bus for an hour in the snow yesterday, and I caught a cold when I went back," another said.

The platform automatically sent these messages to the district's transportation bureau, based on their classification and location. Following in-depth research and resident interviews, the bureau responded by cooperating with a well-known tech company to develop a real-time update system for the district's buses in a mobile map app, allowing passengers to wait indoors until their bus is near.

The city has turned the big data collected by the hotline services center into a gold mine that can aid its decision-making.

By screening the data, Beijing added 17 major frustrations of local residents to its priority list of issues to address in 2022, including the lack of elevators in old buildings and substandard residential property services.

So far, nearly 100 policies have been introduced and more than 400 key tasks have been completed as part of the program, with 1,322 elevators newly installed.

"The people have a channel to express themselves, their words are listened to, acted upon, and given feedback. They are also empowered to judge the performances of related parties. This practice of handling public complaints has brought people's democracy to a new height," said Shan Aihong, a researcher on leadership science at the Party School of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

CLOSE CONSULTATIONS

Walking into a consultation room in Hengbei Village of Yancheng City in east China's Jiangsu Province, people first see a display board covered with pictures showing efforts in solving issues that had been discussed by villagers and local political advisors, such as improving the village's living environment and making villagers richer by developing local industries.

The village is planning this year's last meeting of its consultation council, during which villagers and members of the city and district committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will sit together to discuss enriching rural cultural life, said Li Xiaoxia, Party chief of Hengbei Village and a member of the district committee of the CPPCC.

This is a relatively good practice recently explored for the city's CPPCC members to perform their duties at the township and village levels, said Chen Honghong, chairperson of the Yancheng city committee of the CPPCC, noting that people at the grassroots level rarely thought to express their problems through political advisors before.

In Yancheng, political advisors at all levels are mobilized to join 2,693 consultation councils like that of Hengbei Village. Each political advisor is expected to visit and contact at least 30 locals every year, participate in at least two consultations, and undertake one practical task for residents.

"Now the CPPCC members are at a distance of zero, serving the people and getting to know their everyday concerns," Chen said.

To ensure consultation results are duly transformed into solutions that are enforced, the Yancheng city committee of the CPPCC has innovated ways to conduct democratic oversight and joint consultations with related authorities, thus resolving a number of outstanding problems concerning people's livelihoods.

In its 20th National Congress report, the CPC vowed to give play to the CPPCC's role as a specialized consultative body, and to see that it coordinates efforts to promote democracy and unity while making proposals on state affairs and building consensus.