Civil society rapidly rising as 'the people' wield greater clout

When Mao Zedong took power nearly six decades ago, he promised to let 'the people' be the masters of China. But few of the people, namely the peasants, workers and soldiers, could speak their mind - and if they dared, they were dealt a blow from the iron fist of Mao's suppressive regime.

But while the definition of 'the people' is blurring in an increasingly polarised society, the country's masses are starting to wield greater clout, and their voices are being heard. The combination of increasing aspirations and growing prosperity has lead to the dawning of a civil society - a phenomenon that was particularly evident this year.

The rapid evolution of civil society on the mainland was noted in a social-development blue book published this month by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which pointed out that the number of non-governmental organisations had risen 6 per cent year on year to 382,000 by the end of September.

Evidence was seen in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in Sichuan , when more than 10 million volunteers poured into the region in an unprecedented show of national solidarity and altruism.

One of the volunteers was Kou Quanjun, 37, the general manager of a Beijing business journal, who rushed to Sichuan on his own soon after the quake. Mr Kou felt compelled to go after watching television footage of Premier Wen Jiabao touring affected areas in the first few hours after the May 12 quake struck.

'How could a bloke, a soldier like me, just stay at home watching TV?' said Mr Kou, who served in the army for five years in the 1990s. He spent his first few days in Beichuan county and Shifang before he assembled about 25 volunteers to go to An county, where they stayed for more than two weeks helping farmers recover stores of grain and build new homes.

Mr Kou now aspires to set up the country's first specialist disaster relief NGO 'that would be the first to arrive whenever a disaster occurs'.