Your Suggestion, Our Legislation | A local's suggestion makes accessibility more caring

The completion of an accessible ramp in Weidong village, Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province, has made getting around safer and more convenient for Wu Tengxin, a polio survivor with limited mobility.

The change came from a suggestion he raised, which was ultimately written into national law.

In November 2022, the Legislative Outreach Office of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee in Jianghai held a discussion meeting in the countryside to gather villagers' opinions and suggestions on the Law on Building Accessible Environments.

Wu attended the meeting. Drawing on his own mobility difficulties, he suggested improving rural barrier-free facilities to make it easier for people with disabilities to get around. Staff carefully recorded his suggestion.

The Jianghai Legislative Outreach Office then compiled the suggestion into a formal written opinion and submitted it to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee.

On Sept. 1, 2023, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Building Accessible Environments officially came into effect. The law states that "the building of accessible environments shall be adapted to the economic and social conditions and progress based on urban-rural coordination in order to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas in their building of accessible environments over time." With that, an ordinary villager's voice became law.

The Jianghai Legislative Outreach Office has gathered a total of 7,353 legislative suggestions, 712 of which have been incorporated into law, steadily channeling grassroots opinion into the development of the rule of law.