Elections for deputies to town- and county-level people's congresses and village heads are regarded as two pillars of grassroots democracy in China.

When viewing a village election in Jiangsu Province, east China, in September 2001, former US president Jimmy Carter said that Chinese farmers cherished their rights and it was impossible for Chinese leaders to withdraw support for elections for village heads.

So far this year 16 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China have held direct elections for new village leaders, involving more than 300,000 village committees and nearly400 million farmer voters.

Those taking part in the elections accounted for more than 80 percent of total eligible voters in all the areas, and the proportion exceeded 90 percent in some areas, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Direct elections are now the major form of grassroots elections in China.

A law on village committee organization introduced in 1987 for a trial run clearly stipulates that directors, deputy directors and members of village committees should be chosen by direct elections.

The law on the organization of village committees, which took effect in 1998, defines the autonomous nature of a village committee and improves election procedures. Since 1987, village leaderships have changed four to five times through direct elections in most provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China.

In 1989 the law on the organization of neighborhood committees in cities was promulgated. This law defines such committees as autonomous organizations for urban residents. Urban community leaders since then have been directly elected in 20 Chinese cities, including Shenyang, Wuhan and Nanjing.

Apart from the heads of autonomous organizations, deputies to the people's congresses at county and township levels are also chosen through direct elections, under China's Constitution and laws on local organizations. The deputies at county and township levels number about three million nationwide, and serve for five years and three years respectively.

Direct elections were held in the second half of last year for new deputies to township people's congresses, while elections began in the second half of this year for new deputies to county people's congresses.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2002)