China’s petition office promises to tackle ‘backlog of complaints’, prevent instability at grass roots

Head of ‘letters and visits’ bureau vows to identify and resolve conflicts early to avoid escalation, adopt tech for communicating with citizens
The bureau is being upgraded as part of an overhaul of party and state organs, giving it more power to make decisions

China’s Communist Party

William Zheng

Published: 4:24pm, 1 May 2023

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Beijing will seek to resolve all petitions quickly and prevent instability at the grass-roots level, according to the director of China’s top office for handling public grievances.

In an article published on Monday, director of the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration (NPCPA) Li Wenzhang vowed to identify potential conflicts early and at the root to avoid escalation. The article appeared on the front page of Study Times, the official newspaper of the Central Party School, where the ruling Communist Party trains its senior cadres.

It was the first article by Li since his office was upgraded as part of a massive overhaul of party organs and government offices in March.

The NPCPA traditionally serves as a collection point for information on public grievances, which are then submitted to upper government agencies for response. Its Chinese name, Xinfangju, means the “letters and visits” bureau.

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Petitioning is common among Chinese citizens who have grievances against lower levels of government. Most petitioners are from lower-tier cities and rural areas.

But petitioning can create headaches for authorities if disputes become unmanageable or cause social turmoil.

Li said the office’s work would focus on putting in place a long-term mechanism to “manage complaints at the source” and “resolve the backlog of complaints”.

“[We must] put in good effort to resolve prominent problems such as failing to identify contradictions at the grass-roots level, poor resolution of problems, and failure to prevent and control risks in some localities,” Li wrote.

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He also vowed to “resolutely and forcefully maintain social security and stability” by using technology such as video interviews to better communicate with petitioners.

In March, Beijing announced it would elevate the NPCPA so it directly reports to the State Council, China’s cabinet, instead of being supervised by the cabinet’s general office.

After the upgrade is completed, the NPCPA will be promoted to the ministerial level, giving it more power to carry out decisions.

China seeks to tighten grip with new social work department

The change is part of a larger overhaul of the party and state apparatus announced after China’s annual parliamentary meetings. The party also said it would set up a social work department under its powerful Central Committee, a move aimed at tightening control over non-public sectors and grass-roots organisations.

According to the plan, the new social work department will “coordinate and guide” the handling of petitions from the public and the soliciting of public opinion. It will also lead the work of industry federations and improve the governance of grass-roots communities in urban and rural areas.

The NPCPA will answer to the new social work department after it is established.