A display cabinet at the Gubei civic center in Shanghai's Changning district showcases pamphlets of China's laws and notes on soliciting people's opinions about draft laws. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

From the people and for the people, China's whole-process democracy places emphasis on executing decisions, supervision and evaluation with the participation of common people, which experts hailed that for the present day China, their interests are the maximum.

"We discussed and solicited different opinions on a legal draft from people from different walks of life and finally reached an agreement. The whole process is a good reflection of President Xi Jinping's remarks that China's democracy is a type of whole-process democracy," said Liu Zhengdong, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and chief partner of the MHP Law Firm in Shanghai.

On November 2, Liu and 10 representatives from different fields, including law enforcement, local enterprises, ordinary residents, media and legal professionals, held a discussion in Shanghai on the draft administrative penalty law, with each of them offering their suggestions.

This was a regular consultation meeting held in the local community on legislative matters in the Hongqiao sub-district. 

At the end of July 2015, the Hongqiao sub-district and Xiangyang, Central China's Hubei Province, Jingdezhen, East China's Jiangxi Province and Lintao, Northwest China's Gansu Province were chosen as four grassroots communities on legislative matters by the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the National People's Congress. 

When he visited the Gubei civic center of Hongqiao sub-district on November 2, President Xi also attended the meeting. He said China is on the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics, where all major legislative decisions are made after going through procedures and democratic deliberations to make sure the decision-making is sound and democratic.

Mechanism for suggestions

Legislative coordinators gather people's opinions via door-to-door visits, interviews and seminars. These "voices" are compiled in a report and submitted to the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee by the local community on legislative matters. 

The suggestion collection procedure is completed in 20 days in Lintao county of Dingxi, Gansu Province, before a report is sent to the national legislative body.

"Local communities on legislative matters are the centers of democratic legislation," said Yu Mei, head of the Lishuyuan community in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province. 

To integrate local legal resources, the Lishuyuan community also invited people with legal experience to discuss the amendment suggestions together, including local lawyer Zhu Xixin. 

"We are from all walks of life, so we are very clear about common people's lives. We can also invite the grassroots people to participate in the legislation," Zhu said, adding this can reflect how China's democratic legislation works. 

Sun Xiaoru, director of the People's Congress Standing Committee of Lintao's Taoyang township, who also works as a legislative coordinator, said that the major challenge is local residents' relatively weak legal awareness and understanding of legal articles. 

A legislative coordinator should be able to explain legal articles to the people in plain language and make them aware of how these articles influence their daily lives, and that their own opinions can change an article in the law, which helps them become aware of their own status in legislation, Sun said. 

Different characteristics

The four local communities on legislative matters have their own characteristics. 

For example, over 80,000 residents live in the Hongqiao sub-district, and about 18,000 residents are foreigners. The authorities worked with 10 consultant units and established eight talent pools to make sure the process was legal, and also improved residents' knowledge about the law.

By the end of September this year, consultations on over 30 laws were undertaken in the sub-district. Over 490 suggestions were solicited during the meeting, with 25 having been adopted to varying degrees by the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, according to Hu Yu'ang, secretary of the Party Working Committee, Hongqiao sub-district, Changning district.  

"Ordinary residents feel honored when their suggestions are adopted," said Hu. "Even if some of their suggestions will not be used, they still feel happy as they have participated in the legislative activity."

As an international residential community, "we work as a window through which foreigners can see how we work," Hu noted. "It's meaningful."

Tang Yalin, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, said China's whole-process democracy places emphasis on executing decisions, supervision and evaluation with the participation of common people, while the electoral democracy in the Western world finishes its work right after the election.

China's democracy has different manifestations, which invites common people to participate in the economic and cultural management. "Before big decisions are made, we have extensive consultations," he told the Global Times. 

Tang said Western democracy moves to "mutual veto" instead of "mutual supervision." "Originally, it should work on the interests of the people, but has become a battle between the interests of different parties and the interests of different capital groups. Such electoral democracy only cares about the here and now, not the long term, which is irresponsible."

"Democracy has many forms, and the Western style of democracy is not the only type… What the Western world has not seen is how the Communist Party of China has achieved restricting the power by itself," Tang said. China's rapid development in the past 40 years is obvious to all. 

"No system is perfect. State governing is meant to achieve the best interest and lower the harm to the lowest. For China, the interest of the ordinary people is the maximum. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the country has boosted development, achieved social prosperity, promoted national reunification and world peace," he said.


Newspaper headline: From the people, for the people