Three months ago, Liu Gangyi, China's first directly elected township Party chief, was promoted to the post of deputy director of the Xindu district of Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province.

Liu Gangyi, China's first directly elected township Party chief.

The promotion threw the spotlight on the experiments in grassroots democracy being carried out by the Communist Party in rural townships.

Liu was elected Party secretary of Mulan township in late 2003 after a two-stage election process in which 243 village representatives first selected two candidates from a slate of eleven to take part in a run-off.

It was a cut-throat competition. One candidate got so excited when addressing the crowd that he bit his lip and drew blood. Liu Gangyi was no better. He almost burst into tears during his speech. The representatives listened with rapt attention. One became so engrossed he burnt himself with his cigarette.

One representative recalled that Liu's speech was not that good. "But we still thought he was the right choice. He's honest. It's better to perform well than to speak well."

Liu Gangyi and the town's vice Party chief entered the final round of competition.