A villager is submitting a public complaint at Zhengzhai Town, Pujiang County (Photo/Zheng Jiandong)

As of May 1, 2023, China’s regulation for the handling of public complaint letters and visits, released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, has been put into effect for one year.

The regulation lays the legal groundwork for localities to solve problems and resolve disputes for the public.

Why the works of handling public complaints are so highly valued in China? The story perhaps begins in Zhejiang Province.

In Zhejiang, the mores of cadres accepting people and handling public complaints in a people-centered manner begin in the Pujiang County of Jinhua City.

More than 20 years ago, Pujiang was a county famous for its hundreds of cases of public complaints. In 2002, the whole county received a total of 10,307 complaint cases, and the locality was occupied with public complaints and struggled with the handling of public complaints.

In the face of such a troublesome situation, in 2003, when President Xi served as the Secretary of CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, he set Pujiang County as the first stop for pioneering accepting people’s complaints and connecting with the public as a provincial leader, turning the climate from people submitting complaint cases upwards to encouraging cadres to accept and listen to people’s complains and needs in person.

The people need to be understood if we want to be good leaders and hope the society functions well. And the work of handling public complaints is so significant as it opens a window through which an understanding of society and the people’s opinions can be obtained.

President Xi’s leadership of encouraging cadres to visit the public and listen to people’s complaints and needs has won wide public support and has received positive feedback. It is said that in a visit to the local mountainous area, the local people reported that a disrepair road has affected the economic development of local society. President Xi made a sound decision, indicating that the road needs to be built well for the sake of people’s well-being. When the rugged and mountainous route turned out to be a broad and smooth road, a letter of thanks with bright red seals by 97 village committees was sent to President Xi, representing the deeply-rooted feeling of gratitude of more than 200,000 villagers.  

If we make reference to Marxism, we value people as much as they are the subject of society’s history and the center of society. Only by fully respecting the principal position of the people and mobilizing the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the people can we truly gather the broadest wisdom and the greatest strength of people. The Communist Party of China comes from and is rooted in the people. It has always respected the principal position of the people and has always taken the realization of their fundamental interests as its governance philosophy and unswerving pursuit.

The "Pujiang Model of Handling Public Complaints" is a good practice that President Xi personally advocates and takes the lead in visiting and receiving the people. It is an important system that was introduced to improve the connections between cadres and the people, widely to listen to the voices of the people, to resolve social conflicts in a timely manner, and to maintain social stability.

Author: Ye Ke