China Daily

People’s trust in a safe pair of hands

- The author is a writer with People’s Daily, and the article was first published in the newspaper on Feb 5. Zhong Sheng

‘How safe is it in China?” This question provoked heated discussion on a world famous website’s question and answer section not so long ago. But the answer winning the most thumb-ups was “Very, very safe”. Many foreigners who had lived in China shared their personal experience­s and said that they felt safe in China.

In contrast, the frequent gun violence in the United States and terrorist attacks in various Western countries have made people in those countries feel increasing­ly unsafe.

Last year, China was among the countries with the lowest rates of homicide, and the number of violent crimes in the country was 52 percent less than the number in 2012. While a survey shows 95.55 percent of Chinese nationals are satisfied with the country’s public security situation.

China’s long-term stability and economic growth mean people can live and work peacefully and in harmony. More and more people think China is one of the safest countries in the world today, and some Western scholars have drawn a link between China’s social stability and security and its fast economic growth.

The number of police in China is way below the world average given its huge population, and the proportion of its GDP spent on maintainin­g public security and social stability is markedly lower than that of many other countries.

China has not experience­d a high crime rate even though it has been undergoing fast urbanizati­on and social and economic restructur­ing. Instead, China succeeds in maintainin­g social and economic stability despite its low inputs thanks to its social governance with Chinese characteri­stics.

The guarantee for people’s sense of safety in China lies in the Communist Party of China’s leadThe ership, which always bears the big picture in mind and is adept at coordinati­ng efforts so that everyone is a beneficiar­y of the safe living environmen­t while at the same time being a protector of it.

sharp contrast between the West’s mess and China’s orderlines­s has prompted some scholars to study China’s social governance model and draw lessons from China’s effective social governance.

Some countries recognize China’s success in maintainin­g safety and public order and have been inviting Chinese officials to share their experience­s in those regards.

And while managing its own business well, China also takes its internatio­nal responsibi­lities seriously. It actively takes part in and calls for internatio­nal cooperatio­n on law enforcemen­t and global security governance, contributi­ng Chinese solutions and wisdom.

China has establishe­d close law enforcemen­t cooperatio­n with 113 countries, 129 bilateral and multilater­al cooperativ­e mechanisms and 96 liaison hotlines, and signed nearly 400 documents on cooperatio­n with the internal affairs and public security department­s of more than 60 countries.

President Xi Jinping declared at the Opening Ceremony of the 86th Interpol General Assembly in September that China will continue to support Interpol and it will organize three global joint actions, training 5,000 law enforcemen­t officers for developing countries, build or upgrade Interpol communicat­ion systems and criminal investigat­ion labs for 100 developing countries, and establish an internatio­nal law enforcemen­t college under the Ministry of Public Security .

The sense of safety in China is not only a powerful guarantee for its own developmen­t, but also a steadfast power to safeguard regional and even world peace and stability.

The sense of safety in China is not only a powerful guarantee for its own developmen­t, but also a steadfast power to safeguard regional and even world peace and stability.

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