Beijing Youth Daily:

General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached much importance to the prosperity and stability at the grassroots level. Over the past 10 years, what progress has the MCA achieved in consolidating local government development and making innovations in the governance of urban and rural communities.

Chen Yueliang:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached much importance to community-level governance. We have made historic achievements in consolidating local government development as well as improving community governance. Community-level democracy continues to advance, and people's sense of achievement, happiness, and security are gradually improving, which helps consolidate the foundation of the CPC governance. It also demonstrates the advantages of our system and the effectiveness of the governance.

First, the Party's leadership is on a more solid footing. The CPC Central Committee has introduced and amended a series of rules and regulations to improve the community-level governance system that is under the full leadership of the Party. We have established a simplified and effective management system under which Party committees exercise leadership and the Party and the government enhance coordination. Up to 95.6% of villages and 93.9% of communities are headed by the same person who serves both the director and the Party secretary of the village or community, up 29.5 and 30.2 percentage points compared to the previous term, with the Party's banner flying high at the community level.

Second, the system of community-level self-governance is more mature. Village committees and neighborhood committees have been given special legal person status, and the term of office of village and neighborhood committees has been extended from three years to five years. Community-level democracy has expanded, ensuring the people's right to engage in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight. "People's wide participation in their own affairs" has become a distinct feature of the times in which people are the masters of their own country.

Third, the system for community-level self-governance has improved. We have introduced a series of policies to consolidate the modernization of community-level governance. These policies are effective and operable, demonstrating the CPC Central Committee's clear orientation to strengthen the role of communities. The policies have also become pillars of the community-level governance system in the new era.

Fourth, our services have improved. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the coverage of comprehensive service facilities has increased from 82% to 100% in urban communities and from 31.8% to 79.5% in rural communities, up 18 and 47.7 percentage points, respectively. These services have provided more convenience to the public. A sample survey showed that public satisfaction has increased to 87.6%.

Fifth, community-level governance plays a more important role in society. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council continue to delegate powers to lower-level governments, empower them, and reduce their pressure; improve the community-level governance system which combines self-governance, the rule of law, and the rule of virtue; promote urban and rural communities to assume the primary task of social governance; and create a virtuous cycle featuring the unified leadership of the Party, and the benign interaction between government governance, social regulation, and residents' self-governance in the new era. In the fight against poverty, the rural communities tasked with poverty elimination have implemented the Party's policies for the benefit of people, and united and led the people to boost the production and improve their lives. A total of 35,000 communities whose residents were relocated from inhospitable areas have enhanced their capacity of governance, helping over 9.6 million people live a better life. During the country's COVID-19 prevention and control, more than 4 million urban and rural community workers have dedicated themselves to the epidemic response frontline, making communities a bastion of defense against the virus.

Sixth, the team structure has been optimized. Competent officials have been selected to form teams for Party branch committees and residents committees at villages and communities, and the occupational system has been established and improved. The proportion of directors of residents committees at villages and communities with junior college education or above accounted for 46.4% and 82.6%, respectively. Young age, high education, and strong ability have become the background features of urban and rural community workers in the new era. Eight of the 29 comrades awarded the July 1 Medal by the CPC Central Committee have worked in villages or communities for a long time.

Looking back at the past 10 years, the grassroots foundation was very important for China to achieve sustained and rapid economic development and long-term social stability. We are guided by General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on grassroots governance to ensure the correct political direction of grassroots governance. We have the strong leadership of the CPC to ensure that grassroots governance is always stable and far-reaching. We continually improve the grassroots mass autonomy system, mobilize the enthusiasm of the broad masses of the people to the greatest extent, and ensure that the people are the masters of the country. We unswervingly build a solid foundation for urban and rural communities, and always focus on the core work and serve the overall situation. 

Thank you.