An online vote "finding fault" of local government by selecting 10 lessons to be learned by the government was surprisingly well received by public officials and citizens in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province.

Experts believe the effort shows both people's new consciousness about their role as participants in governmental affairs and the desire of government to be more responsive to the public.

On December 18, 2004, a netizen named Qin Toushe launched an online vote to list 10 major lessons in Xi'an regarding local economic and social development in 2004.

The vote was initiated after a government-sponsored top-news selection listed its handling of a lottery-swindling case as a top issue authorities believed had improved trust in the government among the public.

"I think that the local government should draw lessons from the lottery swindle, instead of taking pride in the final settlement," said Qin, an employee of a financial organ at the Shaanxi Provincial Power Supply Company and host of a bulletin board at www.huash.com.

"So I came up with the idea of organizing an online selection for 10 major lessons to learn from in Xi'an's economic and social development."

The next day, after Qin put his idea on his bulletin board, his selections were carried on three other local websites.

In a few days, more than 10,000 netizens visited the websites and feedback messages were posted in the thousands. In total, 56 problems that focus on urban construction and management, social security and economic development were collected, Qin said.

On December 24, Qin chose 20 cases and put them on the Internet, from which Qin asked netizens to select a top 10.

By midnight on December 30, the three websites gathered the results and the "10 major lessons" for 2004 were cited. The lottery-swindling case was the No 1 lesson for its significant damage to the government's public trust and the city's image, according to Qin.

He also said with regret that if the government had listened to the will of the local people more beforehand, perhaps many things would not have been listed.

Government responded to vote

Beyond the expectation of Qin and other netizens, the local government supported the non-governmental selection.

"We got used to evaluating 'big achievements,' or '10 good news' in the past, but these 10 major lessons will help us look for disparities and deficiencies in our work, and urge us to improve the ability of administration," said Xi'an's Mayor Sun Qingyun.

The municipal government of Xi'an has been paying close attention to the online voting since the very beginning. Its research office was required to analyze the results.

"Addressing the 10 major lessons and 33 questions raised by netizens, the Xi'an municipal government held work conferences on January 13, and governmental departments were urged to take measures to improve their work," Sun said.

And by January 20, all the governmental departments and units which were found to have faults had come up with plans to solve the problems, the mayor said.

On February 22, the fifth session of the 13th Xi'an Municipal People's Congress was held and the mayor responded to the lessons in his government work report delivered to deputies.

"It is rare in China that a local government admits in its work report to the people's congress that it has faults. It signifies the service-orientated concept of the local government and their efforts to cater to the people's needs," said Zhang Baotong, director of the Economic Development Research Institute with the Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

"Starting with a purpose of finding fault in the local government's work, the online vote eventually became an examination of the government work," Qin Toushe said.

Nationwide impact

This rare vote not only caused a stir among locals in Xi'an, it also drew great attention across the country.

An article posted at a forum at the People's Daily website praised it as the most valuable news-selection in 2004 in China.

Wu Jianbo, a professor of Shaanxi Administrative Cadre's Management College, said the majority of suggestions put forward by netizens were objective, reflecting real problems in the government. It shows that local citizens are highly competent of participating and discussing governmental affairs, Wu said.

"Local citizens and government should have greater understanding of one another. And the government and its departments should strengthen their communication with citizens, daring to accept criticism," said the professor.

"Xi'an leaders' modest attitude to the selection activity and their efficiency in solving the problems have reflected well on their responsiveness to the people's will. This is undoubtedly a good policy and a vivid embodiment of the modern political civilization, which is also a kind of development trend for government improvements," the professor said.

(China Daily March 2, 2005)