Why spend money in a cafe when your neighborhood offers a place to study, work and meet friends for free?

In Shanghai’s Huangpu District, a Party-mass service center – a community service center run by the Communist Party of China – has welcomed more than 500,000 visits and hosted over 2,000 events since reopening in December 2025. It even stays open on the Chinese New Year’s Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year, attracting as many as 3,000 to 4,000 visitors a day at its busiest.

In south China's Shenzhen, more than 2,300 Party-mass service centers across the city receive over 400,000 visits every day. With free Wi-Fi, study spaces, community canteens and evening classes for young people, they offer residents practical services and places to connect without the pressure to spend.

Once seen mainly as places to handle official business, these centers are becoming neighborhood hubs where people can study, socialize and access services close to home.

Their growing popularity reflects a bigger role in community life: responding to people’s everyday needs, bringing neighbors closer and connecting the Party with the people it serves. By making public services more accessible and community spaces more welcoming, these centers bring grassroots governance into people’s daily lives.