A book detailing China's experiments in holding rural elections reveals they have been unexpectedly widespread.
Public Elections and Directions - research on the system of village and township people's elections, published by Shi Weimin of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, describes the experiments as 'an unprecedented event' in Chinese history.
'If [peasants] take part in direct elections and choose their representatives, then it is very important for China,' the author says.
The book is partly devoted to the village-chief elections which began after 1988 but it also describes elections for the township leaders, who are on the lowest rung of China's vast bureaucracy.
Experiments began in Linyi county, Shanxi province, as early as 1989. Previously, leaders of the township committee were vetted by the local party apparatus.
After 1989, the county allowed peasants to participate in elections. After officials were nominated by the county, the peasants were informed and had the right to speak out in public opinion polls and to nominate their own choices for the posts of deputies and township chief.