Xi Story: Reducing burdens at the grassroots benefits the people

President Xi Jinping has consistently emphasized the importance of reducing burdens on grassroots officials to ensure they can dedicate more time and energy to serving the people.

During a visit to Chongqing's Jiulongpo district in April 2024, Xi asked community workers about the services they were providing and learned about the effect of reducing burdens at the community level in recent years.

A report submitted at a public service center caught Xi's attention. A community staff member explained that after a smart report integration app was launched in the city, the number of reports they had to fill per year went down from over 100 to just 12.

The change experienced by grassroots officials in Jiulongpo district is just one example among many. In the same year, Xi visited a public service center in Siyi village, Hubei province, to learn about the operation of the village-level organizations and their efforts in tackling pointless formalities to reduce burdens on primary-level officials.

His attention was drawn to a display on the wall that had this written on it: "List of services for the people". Local officials explained that the village-level service items have been streamlined from 64 to 24, and the number of village-level verification items has been optimized from 40 to 7.

Through continuous reforms, Xi underscores a vision for public service where reducing burdens at the grassroots empowers officials to serve the people with greater focus and dedication.