Beijing lawmakers urged to improve public service

Beijing's top legislative body has pledged to continue to maintain close ties with residents to better understand their needs and demands and help them solve problems more effectively through legislation.

Talking to people to learn about their troubles and responding to their concerns are among lawmakers' primary duties and demonstrate their efforts to implement China's whole-process people's democracy, according to the Standing Committee of the Beijing People's Congress, the capital's top legislature.

It said that it has called for deputies to the people's congresses at the county, district and city levels to solicit residents' concerns about their jobs and lives and about the city's development since 2019. The deputies should then create or revise regulations to address the concerns.

In August 2019, for example, deputies across the city were required to collect public feedback on waste sorting. The responses played a big role in amending the capital's domestic garbage management regulation, the legislature said.

Similar solicitations were also conducted in the drafting or revising of other regulations, including those on water conservation and the management of non-motorized vehicles, it added.

To maintain close relationships with residents and offer them more convenient ways to voice their concerns and share their opinions with deputies, the legislature has set up a number of contact stations in communities and service centers in subdistricts.

Additionally, deputies have also been encouraged to contact residents to develop questionnaires through WeChat mini programs in order to encourage more residents to offer them suggestions, the legislature added.

A report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which was held in Beijing from Oct 16 to 22, stressed that deputies should maintain close contact with residents and endeavor to better solve their problems.

To implement the report, the legislature added that public opinion collections will be further expanded in the capital to ensure that people from all walks of life can have a voice in legislative affairs. Deputies are elected by the people, so they should represent them, serve them and be responsible for them, the legislature said.