(Transcribed from recordings, with some edits)
I am a grassroots community worker from Zhanggong District of Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province. Located in southern Jiangxi, Ganzhou is the province's largest prefecture-level city and a renowned revolutionary base area, once the site of the original Chinese Soviet Republic. My community lies in the heart of Zhanggong District, spanning 2.3 square kilometers and comprising 16 residential zones, 9,760 households and nearly 60,000 residents. Given the high population density, diverse demographic structure and varied community demands, our grassroots governance is arduous and complex.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi Jinping has made a series of important statements on grassroots governance, emphasizing the reasonable application of Marxist principles and grassroots practice rooted in national conditions, social realities and public sentiment. As the Party secretary of my community, I fully implement the directives by addressing inadequacies in the grassroots Party organization's governance capabilities, leveraging Party members' vanguard roles in reform, development and social stability, and setting up a structure led by the community Party organization and with diverse parties to launch a joint governance force.
Through grid-based Party building, we divided our jurisdiction into nine grids, establishing Party branches at each grid and Party groups at the building level. This approach formed a three-tier organizational structure: the community general Party organization, grid-level Party branches and building-level Party groups. Community secretaries, cadres, grid workers, residents, property management, enterprises and subdistrict offices shape a multi-level, interactive organizational network. Work including information screening, demands collection, hazard identification and emotional counseling is all completed within the grid. For example, when an elderly resident living alone suffered a sudden illness, grid workers promptly contacted a doctor within the community for on-site medical assistance, successfully saving the resident's life. Such rapid response delivers tangible gains and security to residents.
Building on this foundation, we launched the "Neighborhood Vanguards" initiative, mobilizing talented individuals and those with resources within the jurisdiction — such as university professors, doctors and corporate executives — to leverage their expertise in providing community training, volunteer services and emergency support. Currently, the community has 801 neighborhood vanguards who play vital roles in both daily life and emergencies.
We have also hosted events like "Grid-level Night Talks" and "Families Night Gatherings," building platforms for equal communication to address residents' concerns and strengthen bonds. We have held the annual Families Night Gatherings for a decade, where residents bring dishes and share stories in a family-like atmosphere.
In terms of governance mechanisms, we have united self-governing organizations like property management and homeowners' committees under the leadership of the Party organization. Together, we tackle issues like renovating old neighborhoods, improving infrastructure and enhancing the environment. Rather than relying on large-scale funding, we mobilize community resources to accomplish these tasks through donations and volunteer services.
Our experience shows that treating residents' concerns as our own continuously enhances their sense of fulfillment, happiness and security, turning every unfamiliar face into a family member. As President Xi stated, "This country is its people; the people are the country." What we safeguard is the hearts of the people. I believe that whether in China or other Global South nations, as long as such cohesion and sense of responsibility exist, hope lies ahead.