Strengthening Social Governance and Raising Public Service Standards in the Civil Affairs Sector

President Xi Jinping has pointed out that working for the people's wellbeing is an essential part of our Party's commitment to serving the public good and exercising governance for the people, and that we must effectively realize, safeguard, and advance the fundamental interests of the people. We must, therefore, firmly grasp issues of the greatest, most direct, and most practical concern to the people, adopt more measures that deliver real benefits to them and win their approval, work hard to resolve the pressing difficulties and problems that concern them most, and improve basic public services to raise public service standards. On this basis, President Xi has put forward clear requirements for managing social organizations and developing charitable undertakings.

We must guide social organizations in pursuing sound development and playing a positive role

We must uphold and reinforce CPC's leadership over work relating to social organizations and take coordinated steps to ensure that CPC developing initiatives and CPC work cover all social organizations, seeing that they listen to the Party and follow its lead. With this in mind, we have worked with relevant departments to step up the implementation of policies regarding government procurement of services, tax incentives, and personnel support to unlock the intrinsic momentum and vitality of social organizations.

We have engaged a variety of social organizations in our efforts to ensure the people's wellbeing and support economic and social development. We have implemented paired assistance programs to link some nationwide social organizations as well as those based in economically more developed eastern region with 160 counties across the country receiving assistance for rural revitalization. We have also involved social organizations in efforts to ensure employment for college graduates.

A credit information platform has been put in place to boost the transparency and credibility of social organizations. Several advanced social organizations have been selected to serve as exemplary models and drivers of the sector's overall development. We have also steadily worked to eliminate moribund "zombie" social organizations and decisively clamped down on and rectified any illegal social organizations to ensure a healthy ecosystem in this space.

We must promote the development of charitable undertakings

To this end, the Sunshine Initiative has been launched to bolster oversight over charitable organizations and endeavors, thereby boosting the transparency and credibility of charitable and public-benefit programs. We also hosted the 12th China Charity Award Ceremony and the 10th China Charity Fair to guide and support enterprises, social organizations, and individuals who are eager and able to participate in charitable and public-benefit activities. Additionally, we have tightened management over the issuing of welfare lottery tickets to ensure that money coming out of the people's pockets is used for their benefit.

We must provide more convenience and greater benefits to the public and enterprises

In this respect, we have simplified the process of applying for social assistance by implementing a single window system for applications and inter-departmental collaboration for processing applications. The pilot program facilitating cross-provincial marriage registration for mainland residents has been extended to 21 provinces, covering 78.5% of China's population. We have also adopted a cross-provincial application system for two disability subsidy schemes.

An initiative has been introduced to direct and improve rural place-naming activities, and the Internet Plus Place Name Services project has been initiated to facilitate public travel and support rural revitalization efforts. We have also launched a campaign to lighten the burden placed on enterprises by industry associations and chambers of commerce, abolishing fees levied on them that violate laws and regulations and exercising strict regulation over those that are lawful and justifiable. These efforts have lightened the load on market entities and aided them in overcoming difficulties.

Editor: Jiang Wenyan