Message Board for Leaders hosted by People's Daily Online exemplifies strengths of China’s whole-process people's democracy

On April 15, 2022, a section for soliciting public opinion and receiving suggestions regarding the 20th CPC National Congress to be held in the second half of 2022 was launched via the Message Board for Leaders and People’s Daily app, which received nearly 10,000 suggestions in the first 12 hours after it was launched.

A screenshot of Message Board for Leaders 

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), called on officials at various levels to make use of the Internet, understand people’s thoughts and expectations, collect good ideas from them, and actively respond to people’s concerns.

Message Board for Leaders, a platform run by People's Daily Online, allows people to express their concerns and advice directly to the leaders of different departments at various levels. After submission online, their suggestions will be forwarded to relevant departments in order to be addressed. Upon learning about their concerns, relevant departments will reply to their submission and begin to resolve the matters that have been raised.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, 3 million ideas and suggestions submitted by netizens on the message board have received replies from various regions and departments, with the problems raised in these posts having been solved or otherwise fully addressed. Understanding people’s thoughts and expectations as indicated on the message board has become a regular habit of the country’s leaders.

One vivid example of the whole-process people's democracy is the idea of "mutual aid for the aged", which was posted on the message board by Li Dianbo, a resident from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2020. The idea was then incorporated into the Party leadership's proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, just two months after the recommendation was put forward by Li.

The Message Board for Leaders was incorporated in “China: Democracy That Works,” a white paper released in December 2021.

“The message board links the will of the Party with that of the people. People’s Daily Online will do its utmost to help the people address their concerns and solve their problems,” said Ye Zhenzhen, president of People's Daily Online.