In China, the people are the masters of the country and exercise their democratic rights as prescribed by the Constitution to manage their own affairs through various channels at the community level.

The country applies a system of community-level self-governance embodied in villagers' autonomy, urban residents' autonomy, and employee congresses in enterprises and public institutions.

The system is designed to enable the people to exercise their democratic rights at the community level, including democratic elections, consultation, decision-making, management and oversight.

It has proved to be effective in providing individuals with tangible power, which has prevented situations where people hold power in theory, but lack the practical means to exercise it. 

In villages and urban communities, residents nominate and elect committee members, and then manage community-level public affairs and welfare through these committees. 

As of the end of 2020, all of China's 503,000 administrative villages had established villagers committees, and all 112,000 urban communities had established residents committees. 

In trade unions at enterprises and public institutions, workers and staff can play an active role in major decisions and significant matters that affect their interests. A total of 3.14 million enterprises have established employee congresses, including 2.94 million private enterprises.

Associations, foundations, social services and other social organizations can also exercise autonomy in managing activities and addressing staff concerns. As of November 2021, there are over 900,000 registered social organizations, including 2,284 with national networks.

Data editor: Yao Nian

Graphics designer: Mukesh Mohanan