Honoring the voice of the people
Neighborhood consultation a vivid example of ‘whole-process people’s democracy’
The annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, also known as the two sessions, have been underway in Beijing. China Daily speaks to expatriates living in Shanghai to find out their views and concerns about the country’s development.
Noyan Rona, a Turkish national who has lived in Shanghai for more than two decades, said his expectation for this year’s two sessions has been for China to exercise its “wholeprocess people’s democracy” in the formulation of social policies and country governance.
Rona is a resident of the Hongqiao sub-district within Shanghai’s Changning district, where President Xi Jinping first put forward the concept of “whole-process people’s democracy” — China’s model of democracy — during a visit to the city in 2019.
“Since my relocation to Shanghai in the mid-1990s, I’ve always been giving my opinions and suggestions about community and city development,” said Rona, 66, the chief representative of Turkish Garanti Bank’s Shanghai office.
“Shanghai is a highly open metropolis,” he said. “The officials and residents here are very open-minded and receptive to new, better and more advanced practices.”
Rona said “whole-process people’s democracy” is applied to the Ronghua neighborhood community where he lives as this concept has been utilized in community governance since the 1990s.
“For example, a meeting was held here at the Gubei Civic Center just a few days ago to discuss matters like transportation, garbage sorting and the management of pets,” he said, adding that many neighborhood
residents participated, giving their opinions and suggestions.
The Gubei Civic Center is more than a community activity center. It has been a place where grassroots legislation workers and residents regularly gather to share advice and suggestions for community and city development since July 2015, when the center became the city’s first and one of the country’s first four stations for the purpose. Opinions solicited from such institutions are conveyed to the country’s top legislature for the country’s law revision. Shanghai now has 25 such institutions across the city.
Rona said the interconnections between the neighborhood committees, sub-district offices and all residents are a perfect reflection of “wholeprocess people’s democracy”.
“When the average resident reports
something to the officials, they seriously listen to your problem, solve the problems in a very serious manner, and give you serious feedback,” he said.
Since 2016, Rona has also offered advice and suggestions at an annual meeting where the city’s political advisory body listens to the opinions of foreigners. He has shared his views regarding the payment of personal income tax by expats, pet ownership, and barrier-free facilities.
He said this process of soliciting views from the grassroots shows that the city’s governance was becoming more transparent. He noted that residents have also gotten more eager to contribute ideas that could help the city.
“When the government departments and the public exchange their viewpoints and reach a consensus,
that’s also a process of building mutual trust,” said Rona.
Last year, the standing committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress revised its procedures and placed “whole-process people’s democracy” in every task required of the legislative body.
Throughout last year, the city’s 25 institutions responsible for soliciting public advice and providing suggestions for law revision put forward more than 3,100 proposals for the city’s laws. A total of 354 proposals were adopted.
Zhu Guoping, an NPC deputy and a former community official, said such grassroots institutions have become a bridge to gather and express the voices from the public and are a vivid example of “whole-process people’s democracy”.
“Some residents used to feel that the formulation of laws is beyond them, and that such matters only happen at the People’s Hall in Beijing. But now it can happen at their very homes,” said Zhu.
Today, every decision regarding the neighborhood, such as the installation of lifts in old residential buildings, the provision of care for the elderly and renovations to the neighborhood, are made in consultation with the residents, she added.
“The residents are very enthusiastic about lawmaking and revision as this makes them feel they’re the masters of the country,” she said.
“Also, when one individual participates in law revision, those around him or her will be spurred to pay attention to the laws. It’s an excellent way of popularizing legal knowledge.”