Grassroots stations successfully linking public with national lawmakers, data shows

Official data showed that more than 22,000 suggestions and opinions about the formulation and revision of laws were collected from the public over the past eight years, and over 3,100 of them were eventually accepted by the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and its standing committee.

The figures were released by the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission on Wednesday at a meeting centered on the work of the "grassroots legislation opinion collection stations", held in Kunshan, Jiangsu province.

The stations — some located in communities and others at colleges — were initiated by the commission in July 2015 to help residents make suggestions directly to the top legislature.

The commission originally designated the standing committees of legislatures in Xiangyang, Hubei province; Lintao, Gansu province; Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province; and Hongqiao subdistrict of Shanghai to serve as the first stations.

Now, the stations have been expanded across the country and serve as a bridge between the public and lawmakers, while also playing a key role in the implementation of China's whole-process people's democracy, the commission said.

Thanks to the stations, individuals and departments at the grassroots level have been given a channel to share their ideas on legislative issues and now have a chance to have their voices heard by national lawmakers, it said.

It revealed that it has solicited legislative suggestions and opinions through the stations 172 times since 2015, adding that more than 3,100 suggestions have been accepted and written into the final versions of laws.