Why Hotline Beijing wins big applause in U.S.

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The documentary Hotline Beijing, which premiered recently in Los Angeles, offers a compelling and insightful portrayal of China's city governance effectiveness, exemplifying the country's people-centered philosophy in action.

Through real-life stories including parking management and elevator installation in old residential buildings, the documentary, with Beijing's "12345" citizen service hotline as its narrative thread, vividly captures innovative reforms underpinning China's city governance that aim to ensure citizens' complaints and needs are swiftly and efficiently addressed.

"What we aimed for … was to create a vivid scroll of daily life, stories that are close to people's hearts, and to show how a single hotline in Beijing has helped catalyze reform in the governance of a city of more than 20 million residents," Chief Director Xu Jieqin was quoted by China Daily as saying.

In 2019, Beijing launched the "swift response to public complaints" initiative. Integrating dozens of hotline services into one unified hotline number, "12345" acts as the primary channel for locals to raise their requests. Official statistics reveal that the platform, operating around the clock with more than 1,700 operators, has processed approximately 150 million public complaints over the past six years, with resolution and satisfaction rates reaching nearly 97 percent.

Once a complaint is submitted via the "12345" hotline, it is immediately directed to the appropriate government departments or public service organizations for resolution. The complainants then evaluate the outcome, ensuring that the public remains actively involved in monitoring, assessing, and overseeing the city's governance process.

The success of this governance model is evident in the documentary's portrayal of community workers, legislative progress, and the dedication of hotline operators, all of whom contribute to ensuring that citizen needs are met promptly. This approach not only enhances the quality of life in Chinese cities but also builds trust between the government and its people by fostering transparency and accountability.

China's governance philosophy, deeply rooted in a people-centered approach, is a fundamental value underpinning both local urban governance and broader national policies. This philosophy emphasizes serving the people's needs as the core mission of governance. The "12345" hotline epitomizes China's governance model of integrating resources from all parties to ensure that people are put first.

"The reason this film was so successful in China is because it relates to the people, it relates to the public, and they want more of that reality of what can be done to make the world a better place," Pete Allman, actor and film producer, said in an inclusive interview with CGTN.

China's unique governance model, characterized by comprehensive services and whole-process feedback, also offers a solution to the global urban governance reform.

"We all have housing problems, food problems, financial problems, social problems, marital problems … all kinds of things to deal with, and the hotline tries to address all those different problems. It is such an amazing challenge for them even to imagine that they can answer, have anybody call up and try to help them solve a problem like that," Harrison Engle, founder of the International Documentary Association, told CGTN.

"We could learn to do that ('12345' hotline services) here in Los Angeles, and not just Los Angeles, but New York City, San Francisco, throughout the United States," said Allman.

This documentary is not only a record of Beijing's urban governance practices but also a channel to share China's governance philosophy with the world, highlighting a governance model that is innovative, inclusive, and deeply people-centered. It demonstrates that the success of urban governance relies not solely on policy frameworks but on their implementation at the grassroots level, where the people's voices are heard and acted upon without delay.

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