Grassroots decision-making offers glimpse of China's democratic practices

BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- He Guoheng and his colleagues are recently busy, going door-to-door for voter registration for an upcoming election of district-level lawmakers.

The 59-year-old retiree even went on an awareness trail, riding his electric bike with advertising boards to help spread election information among locals.

He, manager of a residential building, has played an important role in mobilizing local residents to help with voter participation -- a grassroots democratic practice.

As He is acquainted with every household living in his building, he has told them the requirements and procedures for the election of lawmakers, or deputies to the people's congress of Rencheng District, Jining City, east China's Shandong Province.

"Building managers know well whether the occupants are permanent residents or migrants from other places," said Luo Juan, a legislative official of the Jiyang subdistrict, under Rencheng District. "They visit every household and guide them to exercise their rights correctly."

From Nov. 19 to Dec. 6, the Jiyang subdistrict completed the registration of 27,000 voters, and last week, the lists of voters were made public.

"We try to ensure that the registration process is error-free and the democratic election and democratic supervision are firmly implemented so that the rights of voters are fully reflected in the entire election process," Luo said.

The election of district-level lawmakers is a vivid manifestation of China's innovative grassroots democratic practices and the country's extensive, genuine and effective whole-process people's democracy.

In Ankang City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, issues regarding people's well-being, such as the renovation of old neighborhoods, community employment and road overhaul, have been tackled efficiently through a voting mechanism in force since 2018. Here, the people's congresses at different levels adopt the relevant decisions based on voting.

After adoption by legislatures, the projects related to people's livelihood are given priority on the government's agenda and undergo review from lawmakers and the public.

"The voting on issues affecting people's well-being is a grassroots practice for implementing the whole-process democracy," said Zou Shunsheng, chairman of the standing committee of the Ankang Municipal People's Congress.

So far, 55 townships in six counties of the city have adopted this mechanism, soliciting more than 2,200 projects in total. Among them, 1,673 were put to vote, with 1,458 adopted for implementation.

In April this year, 137 deputies decided on a proposal on tackling the difficulties and irregularities in parking through voting. Thanks to the voting mechanism, the problems were largely solved within two months through measures such as the opening of community parking lots.

"This approach is a way for lawmakers to fulfill their duties to follow up on the approved projects in order to ensure they are carried out and completed as scheduled," said Wen Rukang, chairman of the people's congress of Chengguan Township in Hanyin County.

Various forms of grassroots consultative democracy created in local areas play a vital role in realizing good governance in China.

The "democratic discussion," which originated in the city of Wenling in Zhejiang Province in 1999, is a type of "grassroots democracy" that manages public affairs through full consultations. Local people review the public budget and employees of enterprises negotiate their salaries through such discussions.

Representatives of more than 90 enterprises and employees and government officials in the city's Xinhe Township gathered in autumn this year for a collective consultation on the annual salary adjustment for local woolen sweater makers.

The salary consultation mechanism was initiated in 2003 to better protect the rights and interests of the workers and to help small and medium-sized enterprises better focus on production by stabilizing the workforce.

After three rounds of talks between employer and employee sides, both parties agreed on salary hikes of 4 to 6 percent.

"In this town of 120,000 people, the woolen sweater industry had more than 10,000 employees in its heyday," said Chen Fuqing, who has served as chairman of the township's woolen sweater trade union for 19 years.

Democratic talks offer employees and business owners an opportunity for equal dialogues and full exchanges. Over the years, workers' salaries have been increased every year, and the enterprises' production efficiency has also seen a steady improvement, Chen said.

"Such talks allow the public to participate voluntarily and directly in addressing their pressing issues and top concerns," said Chen Yimin, former director of Wenling municipal democratic discussion working office.

Since the launch of the consultative democracy model in Wenling in 1999, more than 30,000 democratic consultations have been held so far, which has improved the enthusiasm and ability of local people to participate in public affairs, Chen Yimin said.