An Lijuan, a deputy to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, believes valuable suggestions are often gained through direct engagement instead of office-based deliberations.

One night in 2021, An, who is also the secretary of the Communist Party of China Committee of Shougang Kuangshan Sub-district in Beijing, received a phone call from a retired resident, who expressed his concerns that his pension barely covered the high monthly medication and outpatient care expenses for his heart disease and high blood pressure. Him being diagnosed with liver cancer two years earlier had made the situation even more difficult.

An immediately consulted the regulations on basic medical insurance in Beijing. Although 70-90 percent of outpatient expenses are reimbursable for retired employees, there was an annual cap of 20,000 yuan ($2,809). "But isn't 20,000 enough?" she wondered.

The next day, An and her colleagues paid a visit to the retiree to get more information and subsequently conducted surveys and studies of retired workers aged between 60 to 90 to collect additional opinions and feedback. She soon realized that while 20,000 yuan is sufficient for people aged 60-65, this is not the case for some people aged over 70, who are more prone to illness. An also found that, with pre-existing conditions and other illnesses combined, some seniors in their 80s need as much as 50,000 yuan ($7,012) to cover their annual medication expenses.

"The policy needs to be more tailored. You can't take all the retirees as a single entity," An thought. "The government needs to make medical care more accessible and affordable." She drafted a suggestion based on the investigation results and submitted it to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, the city's top legislature, in January 2022.

Soon after the Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau conducted independent studies before reaching the same conclusion as An did. Finally, on January 1, a new policy was announced to remove the limit on medical expense reimbursement for retirees, meaning the overall financial burden of healthcare costs for retired individuals in the city will be reduced by an estimated 1 billion yuan ($140 million) each year.

"To frame good policies for our people, listen to them and address their real concerns are fundamental for a people's deputy," An said in a dialogue about China's practice of democracy with a group of global young leaders attending a field research program in Beijing on May 31.

The people's congress system is the fundamental political system of China, with people's congresses, formed through democratic elections, existing at national, provincial, city, county and township levels.

The group further spoke with members of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress to learn more about China's whole-process people's democracy. The daylong activity included a visit to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress and a tour to the Zaoying Beili Community to gain insights into community engagement in local governance. They also walked across the Liangmahe Riverfront exploring its transformation as a model urban public space.

A group of global young leaders poses for a group photo in front of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress on May 31 (COURTESY PHOTO)

Deeper understanding

Liu Jun, Deputy Director of the Research Office of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, introduced the concept of whole-process people's democracy and Beijing's specific practices of the people's congress system in the new era.

Zoon Ahmed Khan, a Pakistani researcher with the Belt and Road Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, said, "I just came back from Pakistan two days ago. One of the questions people have in my country is how [China] can be so disciplined, determined and also so dynamic. But when you look at the bigger picture, you realize that it is many parts coming together to create a space where genuine feedback and long-term perspectives are valued to create a society that is really leading globally."

She continued to delve into the topic, asking about China's decision-making processes, as she said she believes countries along the Belt and Road routes want to acquire China's tangible experience and to be inspired by it. Zhang Lijuan, chief of the Standing Committee's legislative affairs office, explained the procedure of legislation and the mechanisms on which it is based. "A draft legislation must be submitted to the people's congress and then be made available online for one month to collect public opinion and feedback. Every step of the process is announced on the website until the draft finally becomes a law," Zhang added.

"How do people participate in the democratic process and what is their role in electing the deputies to the congress?" Abhishek G. Bhaya, a senior journalist with China Global Television Network, inquired. "As Beijing is a populous city, we apply direct elections at the grassroots level, combined with the indirect democracy of successively higher forms of representation," Zhang Yi, another member of the Standing Committee, replied.

According to the white paper titled China: Democracy That Works, released in 2021, whole-process people's democracy consists of four pairs of elements working in tandem: process-oriented democracy and results-oriented democracy; procedural democracy and substantive democracy; direct democracy and indirect democracy; and people's democracy and the will of the state.

Profound perspectives

Zhang said he hopes visitors can immerse themselves in the democratic process, gain a better grasp of China's whole-process people's democracy and share their experiences with friends.

Itunu Grace Ishola, a Nigerian student at Peking University, said that the activity really provided a lively example of whole-process people's democracy and helped her learn about China's democracy from the Chinese perspective.

Joshua Dominick, founder and organizer of nonprofit organization Krankin' thru China, echoed Ishola's understanding of the concept. "Why does the term whole-process people's democracy exist? It isn't just governance or administration. It's more about improving society—caring for society and providing social services. This is about ensuring that ordinary people can participate, and resolve real-life problems. The root of democracy is about conveying the will of the people," he said.

Ahmed Khan said she believed the event had been another opportunity to understand Beijing Municipality's governance at different levels and how whole-process people's democracy works. "In the dialogue, we understood how the deputies to people's congresses work, how specific mechanisms work, how people give feedback, who is envisioning better policies, how it is that a big city like Beijing can enable Chinese and foreigners from different walks of life to participate in governance," she told Beijing Review.

Participants take notes as they listen to a speech about China's whole-process people's democracy at the Beijing Municipal People's Congress on May 31 (COURTESY PHOTO)

The event was part of a program called Global Young Leaders Dialogue (GYLD), launched by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies in affiliation with China International Communications Group and Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based think tank. The program intends to promote dialogue and communication among young people from different countries.

"I think this is the first time that a local congress has brought international young generations together to take a comprehensive look at how whole-process people's democracy works at different levels, which is quite an valuable exploration," Mabel Lu Miao, co-founder and Secretary General of the GYLD program, said.

"If I have to sum up, it's important to create a system, a mechanism, where people are part of the solution. I think many countries can learn from what we've learned today," Ahmed Khan concluded.

(Print Edition Title: Bridges of Engagement)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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