Need for effective channels of communication

"We need to ask, had the people who showed up ever petitioned in the past? If so, what response did they get? Was any action taken?" Liu Qinglong, a professor from Tsinghua University told China Youth Daily.

He said what the city leaders need to do is to investigate the incompetent lower-level officials who fail to deal properly with the problems.

The different levels of government have different responsibilities, Liu said. The frontline departments communicate with citizens face to face, but the duty of the city's top leaders is supervision.

Liu said the important thing is to set up effective rules and a functioning system for people to interact with the government.

Zhao agreed. "The Chinese government can learn from developed countries about collecting public opinion, and use the lessons to build proper channels for petitioners to appeal to the authorities," he said.