Chen Shaopeng, a deputy of the Haidian District People's Congress in Beijing and an official of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, is no stranger to listening to people. Earlier this year, in February, invited by residents, he visited their aging residential community, where they had long been grappling with infrastructure issues.

During his visit to the neighborhood, Chen noticed a pressing problem: the bathroom floor was raised nearly 10 centimeters above the living room floor, creating a constant challenge for the elderly residents living there. Residents explained that the flaw had existed since the building's construction in 1990, but due to the shared piping system, they couldn't renovate the bathroom on their own. They expressed their hope that the local government could help resolve the issue.

Chen listened attentively, realizing that the piping system's subsequent renovation would need to take into account the safety and quality of local people's lives. He soon sat down with the construction team and worked to secure a commitment that the bathroom floor height issue would be addressed during the water system renovations. His efforts paid off. The construction team agreed to lower the bathroom floor height during their pipe renovation project.

This is part of a larger effort in Haidian District, where deputies of the district's people's congress have been working closely with communities since the first deputy liaison station was established in 2008. 

So far, there are 25 liaison stations in the district, and each connects with one of the 24 local communities. In these stations, deputies like Chen can meet face-to-face with the people, listening to their stories, sharing their concerns and pushing for change.

"When deputies like Chen get involved, they don't just resolve technical problems; they make people feel seen. Their participation is vital, especially when residents' requests are reasonable but fall outside of current policies," said Duan Hongyan, who works at a deputy liaison station in Haidian.

There are over 2.5 million deputies in the people's congresses at all levels across China and nearly 3,000 national-level deputies. As representatives of the people, deputies fulfill their duties, such as contacting the people, conducting research, attending training sessions for deputies and making suggestions to the National People's Congress (NPC) so that the people's problems, suggestions and advice can be better addressed and taken into account in the government's policies.

Enriched forms of democracy

The people's congress system is the fundamental political system in China, serving as an important institutional vehicle for realizing whole-process people's democracy in China.

This year marks the 70th founding anniversary of the NPC. Over the past 70 years, the people's congress system has seen constant improvements, including the establishment of a commission under the NPC Standing Committee to improve the quality of deputies' work and the setting up and expansion of deputy liaison stations and primary-level legislative outreach offices nationwide to make it more convenient for the public to reach lawmakers.

According to the NPC website, there are over 200,000 deputy liaison stations throughout China, covering almost all cities. In these stations, people can describe their problems to workers or talk with deputies.

Besides, there are 45 grassroots legislative contact points across the country established by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC, providing smoother channels for grassroots communities to participate in the legislative process.

What's more, the people's congresses at all levels have steadily improved their institutional guarantees to ensure people's democracy. Since 2008, the NPC has begun to widely solicit public opinions on draft laws. Official figures show by the end of March 2022, a total of 257 draft laws had been published on the NPC website for public opinion, and more than 1.5 million people had submitted nearly 5.3 million suggestions.