Community workers now set to go ‘professional’

The country has rolled out new rules to strengthen its nationwide network of community workers, the group that was once key to enforcing its “zero-Covid” strategies on the ground.

The stronger network would aim to “maintain social stability and consolidate the party’s long-term rule”, China’s cabinet and the ruling Communist Party’s central decision-making body said in a joint notice.

According to the State Council and the party’s Central Committee, a “basic system of professional community workers” must be built within five years. Workers’ political awareness and skills must also be enhanced, with secure pay, the document said.

It comes amid a drive in recent years to strengthen central control, as Beijing seeks ways to minimise risk and conflict down the line to the lowest levels of governance to ensure social stability.

Last year, the Ministry of Public Security pledged to deploy more officers to police stations, and rural and urban residential communities, to defuse the risk of social unrest.

President Xi Jinping’s trips around the country regularly include community work sites. He has also called on party cells at the community level to become real “fortresses” against challenges to the party’s rule and build a real connection with people on the ground.

According to Wednesday’s notice, community workers are those who take part in party-building, social management and services at the grassroots level. They are either assigned to the posts from other state-related bodies or recruited from within the community.

Existing community “grid” workers, such as those recruited during the Covid years to track public movement, could also be incorporated into the teams if they had the required qualifications, the notice said.

The top priority in hiring should be a “political standard”, in that the workers “follow the party’s lead, obey laws and disciplines, and are enthusiastic to serve the people”. The notice set a target of 18 community workers for every 10,000 residents, encouraging each region to recruit people from nearby neighbourhoods, with priority given to college graduates and military veterans.

The teams will serve the community in a “grid” system, carrying out door-to-door visits to pair with residents in need of help and run errands for them if needed.

The notice set a target of this many community workers for every 10,000 residents, encouraging regions to hire people from nearby areas

In return, the workers will be paid wages on a par with the local average and enjoy social security benefits.

The “grid” system is the government’s decades-old social management and surveillance tool, which divides cities and counties into smaller zones. The person in charge of each zone must report to the local government regularly, and be ready to take the blame if things go wrong under their watch.

During the Covid-19 lockdowns, the grid system became even more active. “Grid controllers” were tasked with reporting unusual activities to their superiors, keeping an eye on residents’ health and ensuring food and medicine supply as entire communities were locked down.