The democratic drive for local governance made a significant
step forward with the establishment of a sub-district-level
representative assembly Monday in Beijing.
The representative assembly, consisting of 233 representatives
elected from more than 60,000 residents of Lugu Community in
western Beijing's Shijingshan District, is the first
sub-district-level self-government organ in the capital city.
Moreover, a 37-member of autonomy committee was elected by
representatives on Sunday, which will be in charge of public
affairs and social services in various fields, such as culture and
education, medical and health work, environmental protection,
mediating civil disputes, and helping maintain public order.
Previously, these tasks belonged to a government agency called
the sub-district office of Lugu, said Han Mengrong, an official of
the sub-district office.
Meanwhile, the representative assembly also takes the
responsibility to convey residents' requests and opinions to
government offices, as well as supervising and evaluating its
performance.
Han said the establishment of the representative assembly not
only helped realize a limited form of government, but also provided
a stage for local residents to participate in the management of
their own community.
Moreover, the newly-elected autonomy committee also includes
representatives for migrant people, which account for 20 percent of
Lugu residents, said Han.
Yang Xuedong, an expert with the China Center for Comparative
Politics and Economics, said the establishment of the Lugu
representative assembly has great significance for democratic
governance in urban communities.
He said that following the establishment of directly elected
villager committees in China's far-flung rural areas since the
early 1980s, the democratic reform of local governance in urban
communities has also made progress in recent years.
Many neighborhoods consisting of hundreds of households under
the sub-district level have already set up their own residential
committees which were elected by local people, and are grassroots
self-government organs for urban people, according to Yang.
"I think it is of great significance for the establishment of
the sub-district representative assembly, which widens the scope of
local autonomy, and people may have more say in the governance of
local affairs," said Yang.
Other large cities like Chongqing, Nanjing and Shenyang are also
taking measures to expand self-government boundaries at the
sub-district level, consisting of thousands of households rather
than the hundreds organized into small-sized neighborhoods.
(China Daily October 14, 2003)