Pets, trash and taxes: Foreigners chip in on China's whole-process democracy

SHANGHAI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- A suggestion from a Turkish banker that triggered a modification of the individual income tax law gives a glimpse of how China's whole-process democracy operates.

When approached about a draft revision to the law in 2018, Noyan Rona, chief representative of Turkey's Garanti Bank Shanghai office, suggested adding the word "accumulated" before the individual tax residency threshold of "183 days in a tax year" to make the provision more explicit.

Rona, who lives in Shanghai's Hongqiao subdistrict, made the suggestion after conducting extensive research and soliciting opinions from local foreigners. Adjusting the time span to accumulated 183 days in a tax year would be more appropriate, he said.

The relevant provision was later modified when the law amendment was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) in August 2018.

Rona's suggestion reached the country's top legislature via the legislative outreach office of Hongqiao subdistrict, one of the grassroots contact stations set up by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee. Draft laws are sent there so that ordinary citizens, Chinese and foreigners alike, can discuss and have their opinions heard by lawmakers.

"When there is a call from people, there is a response from the relevant departments. I was filled with excitement and pride when my suggestion was adopted," said Rona who has lived in Shanghai for 26 years and altogether 39 years in China. He has offered nearly 100 suggestions for Shanghai over the past decades.

With the in-depth practice of whole-process people's democracy in China, people have more channels to voice their opinions. Platforms such as neighborhood committees, legislative outreach offices, and people's suggestion collection offices have mushroomed, enabling more grassroots voices to be reflected in the major decisions of the government, Rona said.

Based on the country's own reality, culture and history, the democracy China practices is a "whole-process democracy" that covers all aspects and procedures, such as elections, consultations, decision-making, administration and supervision, guaranteeing the running of the country by the people via a set of ever-improving systems, institutions and mechanisms.

Last year, the suggestion collection office of Shanghai received more than 70,000 pieces of advice from its citizens. Around 98.5 percent of these suggestions were adopted by relevant government departments. A lot of good ideas poured in to help solve the problems facing urban construction and social governance.

Besides state affairs, citizens also have their say in everyday matters ranging from English translations of street names to pet-keeping rules and garbage sorting management in communities.

Among the first batch of 12 members of the "citizens' meeting hall" in Shanghai's Gubei Community, Michelle Teope from the Philippines is an avid participant in affairs involving public life. The "meeting hall" is hailed as a mechanism that enables community members to discuss and decide their own affairs.

At a meeting in 2017 before Shanghai enacted a set of household garbage sorting regulations, Teope and other members chewed over the garbage classification problems in their own residential compound.

"If we placed three dustbins on each floor, it would have spelled troubles in recycling and sanitation, and increased garbage sorting cost," she said.

After inspecting surrounding communities, they suggest removing the dustbins on each floor and encouraging residents to classify garbage at home, setting up garbage sorting sites at the underground parking lot, and creating awareness of garbage sorting in different languages.

Their advice has prompted a change in the community, which added five new garbage sorting sites at the parking lot, and withdrew a total of 350 dustbins that originally sat on each floor.

Teope hopes to promote even the slightest positive change in community governance with good suggestions. The Openbox initiative was her crowning achievement. It is a small shared house on a popular pedestrian street in Shanghai, which can serve as the venue for various community-level activities, such as free medical consultations, exhibitions and tea parties.

In June 2021, Shanghai passed a regulation to standardize and promote public opinion solicitation, as a move to turn more good ideas from the public into good government decisions.

People's voices can reflect their needs and social condition, and their enthusiasm over participating in the administration and discussion of state and city affairs can boost efficient social governance, said Wang Jianhua, director of Shanghai's public complaints and proposals office.

Although not every piece of advice Rona puts forward can end up in public discussion, he will continue to make suggestions whenever he sees fit. "Shanghai is my hometown. I never regard myself as an outsider," he said. "I have the responsibility to offer a suggestion and make this city more beautiful, developed and pleasant."