Leaping down to "face the exam" and sinking to the front line to "solve the problem" - decoding the "Pujiang experience"

This is a persistent practice——

For the past 20 years, Party members and leading cadres at all levels in Zhejiang have been taking office one after another, continuously enriching and developing the "Pujiang experience", adhering to the guidance of follow-up work, and effectively solving practical problems for the people.

This is a timeless revelation——

"If there are more leaders, the masses will come up less" - Forming the "Pujiang Experience" in the Great Reception

The forest and flower sea complement each other, and the residential buildings in Jiangnan are arranged in a picturesque manner. The original 20 Provincial Highway, which crosses Pujiang County, is like a colorful ribbon embedded in the towering mountains.

This is a collage photo, the picture above shows: the 20 Provincial Road in Pujiang County, Jinhua City before renovation; The following picture shows the renovated Provincial Highway 210. Shen Jizhong

20 years ago, due to long-term disrepair, this road was bumpy and difficult to pass, causing many inconveniences to the production and life of enterprises and farmers in mountainous areas.

Jiang Xingjian, a villager from Hangping Village, Hangping Town, was a member of the County Political Consultative Conference at that time. He has been suggesting widening and renovating at the CPPCC meetings for more than a decade.

The project started more than three months later and was fully completed in October 2005.

Nowadays, this road has transformed from a moderately prosperous society to a path of shared prosperity.

Flower Farm next to Provincial Road 210 in Pujiang County, Jinhua City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

In 2018, Xue Yong, a villager from Wujiang Village in Hangping Town, returned from Guangdong to build a flower planting base covering an area of over 800 acres with his fellow villagers. Various fresh flowers such as peonies, peonies, and lilies are sold to various parts of the country through this smooth provincial road, and the annual sales of the base exceed 20 million yuan.

At the flower planting base in Wujiang Village, Hangping Town, Pujiang County, villagers are processing fresh cut peony flowers and preparing to send them to various places. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

The extraordinary reception not only solved a group of urgent and difficult problems for the masses, but also formed the "Pujiang experience" to guide the Party's mass work.

The basic principle of the "Pujiang Experience" is not to avoid contradictions and not to cover up problems——

Pujiang is located in the central mountainous area of Zhejiang Province. After the reform and opening up, township enterprises and individual private economy have developed rapidly. At the beginning of this century, some deep-seated contradictions and problems gradually emerged in the process of land acquisition, demolition and resettlement, and enterprise restructuring, and the number of petitions continued to rise.

"At that time, it was common for petitioners to gather outside the office before people arrived at the unit. Over time, some officials even wanted to avoid it," recalled Zhang Guoqiang, then director of the County Petition Bureau.

Considering the severe and complex local petition situation, some suggest choosing another county.

Petition is a mass work that brings people to their doorstep, and an important channel for understanding the people's situation and contacting them.

In the end, Pujiang selected 9 out of 16 representative and difficult letters and visits with high public demand, prominent issues, as the on-site reception for the provincial party secretary.

The problem is the voice of the times.

Openness, transparency, and smooth channels are important methods for the "Pujiang Experience"——

On September 8, 2003, a prominent announcement was issued on the front page of the Pujiang Daily, announcing that the main leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and relevant provincial department heads would visit and receive the masses in Pujiang. One week later, the newspaper will issue another announcement at the same location, informing of the reception time, location, method, and other information.

After the announcement was issued, people from ten miles and eight townships rushed to the county seat of Pujiang, and over 400 petitions were registered at the registration point within three days.

On September 18th, the reception point was located on the larger campus of the former Pujiang Middle School. From around 8am to 5pm, more than 100 leading cadres at the provincial, municipal, and county levels received 436 batches of 667 people in 14 reception rooms, and solved 91 problems on the spot.

The special way of receiving visits also forms a forced mechanism for grassroots work, playing a demonstrative, guiding, and supervisory role.

Wu Caixing, then Secretary of the Pujiang County Party Committee, introduced that taking the visit of the Provincial Party Secretary as an opportunity, the county conducted an investigation of the accumulated letters and visits over the years, resolved a number of long-standing cases, and effectively promoted various work.

Transforming People's Petitions into Leaders' Petitions is a Practical Follow of the "Pujiang Experience"——

This is not only a change in work style, but also a change in work philosophy.

The staff of the Social Governance Center in Anji County, Zhejiang Province are handling public petitions and appeals. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

We need to improve the comprehensive mechanism for diversified prevention, mediation, and resolution of social contradictions and disputes, combine the petitions of party members and cadres with those of the masses, standardize the work of mediating and resolving disputes among the masses, and enable the people to have a place to "find an explanation" when encountering problems, effectively resolving conflicts in their infancy and at the grassroots level.

"One level leads the other level to grasp and work year after year" - continuously practicing the "Pujiang experience" for 20 years

Regular follow-up visits are an unwavering work arrangement for leaders at all levels in Zhejiang.

——Implement institutionalization and persistently practice the "Pujiang experience".

September 2004, Lin'an; In August 2005, Deqing; In August 2006, Qujiang.

Over the past 20 years, leaders and department heads at the city and county levels in Zhejiang Province have made approximately 150000 visits, and have received over 200000 batches of 700000 visits from the public.

In 2017, the Implementation Rules for the Responsibility System of Letters and Visits Work in Zhejiang Province were released, which stipulated that leaders at all levels should regularly receive visits from the masses. Provincial leaders should carry out visits at least once every six months, municipal leaders should participate in receiving visits from the masses at least once every quarter, and county leaders should arrange designated visits at least once a month.

Institutionalization brings about the standardization, normalization, and normalization of the Pujiang experience.

In Zhejiang, the main responsible comrades of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government sign letters of responsibility for petition work with the secretaries and mayors of 11 cities every year, driving the four levels of cities, counties, townships, villages, and relevant functional departments to sign letters of responsibility and build a responsibility system.

In Zhejiang, a "five level reception" structure has been established, with provincial-level leaders taking the lead in visiting, city level leaders receiving visits regularly, county-level leaders on duty receiving visits, township level leaders receiving visits at any time, and village level cadres visiting at home.

——Promote systematization and deepen the implementation of the "Pujiang experience".

Wuxi Village in Yantou Town, Pujiang County and Xuanlu Village in Zhengzhai Town are two adjacent villages. In 2020, the sand and gravel field built in Wuxi Village occupied a piece of land in Xuanlu Village, causing cross township disputes and escalating conflicts between the two sides.

Afterwards, the deputy director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Jinhua City and the secretary of the Pujiang County Committee received three visits and determined the compensation plan for Xuanlu Village from Wuxi Village.

"Although the compensation was received, the villagers of the two villages were not convinced of each other. At this time, the village cadres played a role and, through ideological work, finally untied everyone's knot," said Zheng Weifang, the secretary of the Xuanlu Village Party Branch.

The return of the "enemy village" to the "family village" is the result of the parallel innovation of grassroots governance in the "Pujiang experience" and "Fengqiao experience".

The Fengqiao Experience also originated in Zhejiang and was formed in the 1960s, with the main characteristics of "not leaving the village for small matters, not leaving the town for major events, and not submitting conflicts".

From the practical situation in Zhejiang, the "Fengqiao experience" can resolve the vast majority of "minor conflicts", while the "Pujiang experience" can solve the remaining "major problems". "This has to some extent formed a closed-loop system for investigating and resolving grassroots conflicts and disputes," said Xia Wenxing, Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Letters and Visits.

After 20 years of persistent development, the "Pujiang experience" is no longer limited to the level of petitions, and its connotation and extension in the social governance system are constantly expanding.

In Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province, the staff of the "Electric Power Uncle" mediation studio are mediating for the public. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

——Promote digitalization and practice the "Pujiang experience" to keep up with the times.

On the morning of May 4th this year at 6:43 am, a staff member of the Pujiang County Petition Bureau received a message on the "People's Sentiment Warmth Whistle" mini program on WeChat: Hangfu North Gate sidewalk has been illegally parked for a long time, and there have been multiple reports that the property management has not taken actual action.

At 11:02, the information was transferred to Puyang Street for processing. Jin Qinyu, Deputy Director of the Street Party and Government Office, convened the community's owners, property management personnel, and traffic management departments to jointly discuss and find a solution to the problem.

This digital application forms a sentinel matrix covering the three levels of counties and villages, enhancing the ability to discover and handle social and public situations, serving the people more efficiently and accurately, and implementing the "Pujiang experience" in a new form.

At the Yuhang District Social Governance Center in Hangzhou, staff are receiving people who come to petition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

In the era of digitization and intelligence, Zhejiang is at the forefront of deepening the "most once" reform that facilitates enterprises and the masses to handle affairs, and exploring the "most once" reform that resolves conflicts and disputes.

Not long ago, Hangzhou residents reported on the "People Call Me" platform in Zhejiang Province that the Baiyang Station of Metro Line 2 has been built for 6 years, but one entrance and exit has not been opened, affecting passenger travel.

The petition was quickly forwarded to Yuhang District, Hangzhou City. Liu Ying, the Secretary of the District Committee, received some representatives of citizens at the People's Visits Joint Reception Center, informing everyone that the land acquisition procedures are being processed and the opening work is progressing in an orderly manner. The subsequent processing status can be tracked on the platform.

"On this all-weather platform, every progress node of the program will leave traces, and the efficiency of handling petitions will be comprehensively improved," said Zhao Kai, Deputy Director of the Yuhang District Petition Bureau.

At present, intelligent platforms have been widely applied in the field of visits.

On the "Appeal and Petition Intelligent Management Platform" opened by the third level court in Zhejiang, the reporter saw that all letters from the public will be scanned and uploaded into the database, realizing the digitization of the entire process of petition handling, referral, judicial assistance, result feedback, termination reporting, and supervision and management.

Zhang Hongwei, Executive Vice President of the Higher People's Court of Zhejiang Province, introduced that through the platform, the court's trial supervision department can effectively identify the judgment situation of cases, classify and handle them accurately, and suspicious cases can be discovered and supervised through the petition procedure.

"In the future, technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence will be used to integrate petitions into the smart brain of digital courts, further improving precision processing capabilities," said Zhang Hongwei.

"Truly Learning Marxism as a Master" - Vigorously Promoting the Excellent Tradition of "Pujiang Experience"

Vigorously promoting the fine tradition of the "Pujiang experience", we need to go deep into the grassroots and frontline, and vigorously carry out investigations and research.

At present, the whole party is vigorously investigating and researching, and the visitation of leading cadres is an important means.

The Regulations on Petition Work issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council will come into effect on May 1, 2022, clearly stating that petition work is an important task for the Party and government to understand the people's situation, concentrate their intelligence, safeguard their interests, and unite their hearts.

Over the past year, various regions and departments have implemented the system of receiving and visiting leading cadres, with provincial party committees and government officials taking the lead in receiving visits. Among them, provincial-level leaders have received and visited more than 4100 times, resolving more than 3200 difficult and complex petition issues, effectively driving leaders at all levels to conscientiously fulfill their responsibilities in petition work.

A petition delegation composed of leaders from the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Letters and Visits and relevant leaders received petitions from the public at the Yuhang District Social Governance Center in Hangzhou City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

Vigorously promoting the fine tradition of the "Pujiang Experience", we should ask for advice and needs from the people, and practice the purpose of benefiting the people.

The visitation of leading cadres is not only a good opportunity to do mass work, but also a compulsory course to improve the ability of mass work.

"Whenever facing the masses, I feel intimate." Xu Jianhua, a retired cadre from Zhejiang Province, has served as county magistrate and party secretary in multiple counties. He believes that as long as he sits on a stool with the masses, gathers around a table, engages in heartfelt conversations and profound analysis, he can identify the crux of the problem and effectively implement precise policies.

Over the past 20 years, Zhejiang has continuously improved the institutional arrangements related to the "Pujiang Experience" and provided operational guidelines for the follow-up work of leaders at all levels.

When Sun Zhejun, the full-time deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee's Social Construction Committee, served as the county party secretary, he followed the "Pujiang experience" and made advance announcements on newspaper websites, received people face-to-face, and managed the entire process in a closed-loop manner during the interview process. "Regardless of the position, this method of mass work has guiding significance," said Sun Zhejun.

We should vigorously promote the fine tradition of the "Pujiang Experience", focus on problems, take practical responsibilities, and do a good job of inspection and rectification.

Visiting and receiving the masses is a great testing ground for the abilities and levels of leading cadres. Visiting masses are examiners, petition cases are test questions, and public satisfaction is the answer.

According to the work method of "Pujiang Experience", before leading cadres go to visit, they should visit villages and households to investigate and study, and understand the opinions of the masses on the work of the Party and government that have been relatively concentrated during a period of time; When receiving visits, analyze and study the issues raised by the public in different categories, and provide accurate handling suggestions; After receiving the visit, we will increase the supervision and handling of potential and biased issues.

Problem rectification also runs through the theme education throughout.

Officials in charge of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee's Theme Education Office stated that we must adhere to learning while investigating and improving, focusing on problems discovered through investigation and research, as well as issues strongly reflected by the masses. We should pay special attention to identifying problems from areas where the masses are dissatisfied, identifying the root causes, and implementing real and hard reforms to make the people feel the actual effectiveness of theme education firsthand.

Yi Lianhong, Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, said that cadres at all levels in Zhejiang should inherit, promote and practice the "Pujiang experience", follow the mass line of the Party in the new era, and further strengthen and innovate grassroots governance. To promote the transformation of work style, continuously stimulate the enthusiasm of party members and cadres in the province for work and entrepreneurship, make willingness, courage, and good responsibility a prevailing trend, consolidate and develop a clean and upright political ecology, and continuously demonstrate the era value of the "Pujiang experience".