Grassroots governance in the new era: building a solid foundation for national governance

Grassroots governance is the cornerstone of national governance, linking the overall development strategy on one end and the livelihoods of countless households on the other. President Xi Jinping has pointed out: “A strong grassroots foundation means a strong nation; stability at the grassroots level ensures peace across the country. We must prioritize the foundational task of modernizing grassroots governance.” Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, regions across the country have implemented the “Fengqiao Experience” in the new era, resolving conflicts at their inception, delivering services to people’s doorsteps, bridging the “last mile” in serving the public, and continuously enhancing people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security.

In Fengyuan Village, Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province, a dispute arose among several villagers over water dripping from sunshades affecting their passage. Village officials intervened promptly, resolving the conflict within the village. As the birthplace of the “Fengqiao Experience,” the local area has extended the “outpost” of comprehensive grassroots governance from the township level down to the village level, truly achieving the goal of “minor issues resolved within the village, major issues resolved within the township, and conflicts not escalated upward.”

The “Fengqiao Experience” is a valuable asset in grassroots governance. President Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to uphold and develop the “Fengqiao Experience” in the new era, adhere to the Party’s mass line, properly handle contradictions within the people, rely closely on the masses, and resolve problems at the grassroots level while nipping conflicts in the bud. The President has pointed out that we must improve the comprehensive mechanism for the diversified prevention, mediation, and resolution of social conflicts, ensuring that citizens have a place to “seek justice” when they encounter problems.

Across cities and rural areas nationwide, regions are actively implementing the “Fengqiao Experience” in the new era, accelerating innovative practices in grassroots governance with visible results. In the past, neighborhood disputes, labor conflicts, and cross-departmental “stubborn” issues were often stalled by questions of “who to talk to, who mediates, and whether the mediation is binding.” At the Comprehensive Governance Center in Changjiang District, Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province, departments such as public security, procuratorate, court, justice, petition, and human resources and social security have moved in together, providing one-stop reception of appeals and bundled mediation of conflicts. Currently, 2,849 county-level comprehensive governance centers have been established nationwide, achieving full coverage at the county level. In the first half of this year, these centers facilitated the lawful resolution of 7.126 million conflicts and disputes.

With conflicts resolved, life must also be improved. Since the new era, regions have focused precisely on addressing the urgent, difficult, worrying, and anticipated needs of the masses, responding promptly to public expectations. In the Hongyan Dongjun Community in Guiyang, community-based public welfare mutual aid service points have been established to address the difficulties elderly residents face in dining and receiving care, providing services such as meal assistance, medical support, and visitation and companionship. In the Fuxing Community in Hohhot, idle spaces have been utilized to introduce inclusive childcare stations, continuously improving children’s activity areas, balancing elderly care services with child托管 (childcare), and creating age-friendly communities.

Zhao Liansuo, resident of Fuxing Community, Hohhot: “We have a supermarket, facilities for elderly services, a nursery, and community medical care. We feel satisfied and happy here.”

In Chengdu, a bus stop on Guanghua West Second Road was moved from 50 meters away from the residential community entrance to just 5 meters away, allowing elderly residents to board buses for grocery shopping immediately after stepping out of their buildings. While this may seem like a minor matter, it reflects Chengdu’s public transport system’s comprehensive survey of 9,086 bus stops, with 234 stops already relocated closer to residential communities, subway stations, hospitals, and schools, upgrading the service from merely “having stops” to “being more convenient.” The shift in urban governance from “whether it exists” to “how good and convenient it is” serves as the most intuitive illustration of the refinement of national governance.

Aunt Chen, citizen of Chengdu: “When we go to buy groceries, we can now board the bus right downstairs, which is very convenient for the people.”

Handling the people’s affairs well requires not only human effort but also leveraging data to reduce the need for physical跑腿 (running errands). During the typhoon season this summer in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, 280,000 road cameras, 150 drones, the 12345 hotline, and photos taken by the public were integrated into a single network. Risks such as fallen trees and loose manhole covers were dispatched to handling departments within minutes.

Liu Tuan, Deputy Director of the Data Bureau of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province: “Problems reported through public photos, grid worker patrols, hotline calls, and other channels are all integrated into a single governance network, with unified dispatch and full-process tracking.”

While the government plays its role, the masses must also take the lead. Mass autonomy is the endogenous driving force of grassroots governance. Initiatives such as courtyard discussion halls, courtyard meetings, and red-and-white affairs councils integrate the everyday vitality of grassroots autonomy with modern rule of law. This year, the newly revised Organic Law of the Villagers Committees and the Organic Law of the Urban Residents Committees came into effect, clarifying responsibilities and enhancing resources for over 100,000 communities and more than 400,000 administrative villages.

Standing at a new starting point, grassroots governance in the new era is striving to build a governance system rooted in Party building, guided by multi-party co-governance, supported by technological empowerment, grounded in conflict resolution, and centered on livelihood services, laying a solid foundation for high-quality economic and social development.

Li Tao, Director of the Institute of Social Management at Beijing Normal University: “Good governance and national stability depend heavily on the grassroots. President Xi Jinping’s important assertion that ‘a strong grassroots foundation means a strong nation; stability at the grassroots level ensures peace across the country’ profoundly reveals the foundational role of grassroots governance in the national governance system. Advancing the modernization of grassroots governance is essentially about practicing the Party’s mass line, responding with care and emotion to the urgent, difficult, worrying, and anticipated needs of the masses, and building a social governance community where everyone shares responsibility, fulfills duties, and enjoys benefits, thereby safeguarding social stability and enhancing people’s well-being through solid and effective grassroots governance.”