The responsible person of the State Bureau of Letters and Calls answered reporters' questions on relevant issues.
1. Q: Please introduce the background of the formulation and promulgation of the "Regulations"?
Answer: Our party has always attached great importance to the work of letters and visits. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee has made a series of important decisions and arrangements for the work of letters and visits, and General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important instructions and instructions on strengthening and improving the work of people's letters and visits, providing a fundamental basis for doing a good job in the work of letters and visits in the new era. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a new era, the main contradiction in mainland society has been transformed into a contradiction between the people's growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development, and the petition work is faced with many new situations and new problems, and it is necessary to take the initiative to adapt to the changes in the situation and the needs of the task, comprehensively strengthen the party's leadership over the petition work, comprehensively improve the level of standardization, legalization, and institutionalization of the petition work, and better undertake the duty and mission of solving difficulties for the people and sharing worries for the party. The CPC Central Committee has focused on improving the system of ruling for and by the people, and has made arrangements for the formulation of the "Regulations". In accordance with the requirements of the Party Central Committee, the Party Group of the State Bureau of Letters and Visits has thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important ideas on strengthening and improving the people's petition work, conscientiously summarized the achievements of the reform of the petition work system since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, such as promoting online petitions, separating petitions and petitions, and handling them according to law, comprehensively absorbed and integrated the content of the State Council's "Letters and Visits Regulations" issued and implemented in 2005, widely solicited and absorbed the opinions of all parties, repeatedly revised and improved, and formed the "Regulations on Letters and Visits Work (Draft for Review)" and submitted it to the Party Central Committee for deliberation. On January 24, 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to review and approve the Regulations. On February 25, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Regulations".
2. Q: What is the significance of the promulgation of the Regulations?
Answer: The work of letters and visits is an important part of the party's mass work and an important window for understanding social conditions and public opinion. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the "Regulations" thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important ideas on strengthening and improving the people's petition work, summarize the party's long-term experience in leading and carrying out petitions, especially the achievements of the reform of the petition work system since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, uphold and strengthen the party's overall leadership over petition work, straighten out the system and mechanism of petition work, and further standardize and strengthen petition work, which is the basic compliance of petition work in the new era. First, the "Regulations" are an important institutional arrangement for upholding and strengthening the party's leadership over the work of letters and visits. The formulation and promulgation of the "Regulations" and upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee over the work of letters and visits and upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership over the work of letters and visits are of great significance to raising the level of institutionalization and standardization of the Party's leadership over the work of letters and visits, and will certainly give full play to the party's role as the core of leadership in controlling the overall situation and coordinating all parties, and ensure that the work of letters and visits always advances in the correct political direction. Second, the "Regulations" are an important measure to uphold the supremacy of the people and maintain the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the government and the masses. The formulation and promulgation of the "Regulations", adhering to the people-centered development philosophy, and building a channel for the masses to put forward criticisms, suggestions, appeals, accusations, or reports are of great significance for promoting the work of letters and visits to give full play to the role of understanding the people's feelings, pooling the wisdom of the people, safeguarding the interests of the people, and rallying the people's will, and serving as a bridge between the party and the government and the masses, and will certainly further enhance the trust of the masses in the party and the government, and strengthen the mass foundation of the party's long-term rule. Third, the "Regulations" provide a strong institutional guarantee for strengthening and improving the work of letters and visits in the new era. The formulation and promulgation of the "Regulations", standing at a new historical starting point, to promote the reform of the petition work system in depth, and to further straighten out the system and mechanism of the petition work, is of great significance for improving the ability and level of petition work, timely reflecting the voice of the masses, and striving to resolve outstanding problems, and will surely promote the high-quality development of petition work, better adapt to the needs of the situation and tasks, and better serve the overall situation of the work of the Party and the country.
3. Q: What are the main contents of the Regulations?
Answer: The "Regulations" focus on the top-level design of the institutional mechanism, responsibilities and tasks, handling procedures, and supervision system of the petition work in the new era, with a total of 6 chapters and 50 articles, mainly in the following four aspects: First, it stipulates the overall requirements for the petition work in the new era. It clarifies the purpose, basis, and scope of application of the "Regulations," and stipulates the status, role, guiding ideology, main principles, and work requirements of the work of letters and visits. Second, it is necessary to stipulate the system and pattern of petition work. It has established a system and pattern for the work of letters and visits under the leadership of the party, clarified the positions and responsibilities of the party committees, the government, the joint conference on the work of letters and visits, the departments for letters and visits, and the forces of all parties in the work of letters and visits, and at the same time clarified the safeguard measures for the work of letters and visits. The third is to stipulate the procedures for handling letter-or-visit matters. It clarifies the forms, channels, procedures, and methods for raising, accepting, and handling various types of letter-or-visit matters, and embodies the different procedural requirements for Party organs, organs of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, administrative organs, organs of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, supervisory organs, adjudication organs, and procuratorial organs in handling letter-or-visit matters. Fourth, it is necessary to stipulate a system for supervising the work of letters and visits. Improve the supervision mechanism for petition work, and make clear provisions on the circumstances and methods of pursuing responsibility.
4. What is the clear scope of application of the Regulations?
Answer: The "Regulations" apply to party organs, organs of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, administrative organs, organs of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, supervisory organs, adjudication organs, and procuratorial organs at all levels, as well as mass organizations, state-owned enterprises, and institutions at all levels to carry out the work of letters and visits. Citizens, legal persons or other organizations shall comply with the requirements of the "Regulations" when they report the situation to the above-mentioned organs and units at all levels through the channels of letters and visits, and make suggestions, opinions or complaints.
5. What are the provisions of the "Regulations" on the positioning of petition work?
Answer: The "Regulations" clearly define the "three important" positioning of the petition work in the new era, that is, the petition work is an important part of the party's mass work, an important task for the party and the government to understand the people's feelings, concentrate the people's wisdom, safeguard the people's interests, and unite the people's will, and is an important way for organs and units at all levels and their leading cadres and staff members to accept the supervision of the masses and improve their work style. The positioning of the "three important" follows General Secretary Xi Jinping's important ideas on strengthening and improving the people's petition work, embodies the political and people's nature of the petition work, embodies the important position and important tasks of the petition work in the overall situation of the party and the country, and further clarifies the development direction and focus of the petition work in the new era.
6. Q: How do the "Regulations" stipulate the system for the work of letters and visits?
Answer: Chapter 2 of the "Regulations", "Petition Work System", clearly defines and improves the system and mechanism of the party's leadership over petition work, and builds a petition work pattern in which the party committee leads in a unified manner, the government organizes and implements it, the petition work is coordinated by the joint conference, the petition department promotes, and all parties work together. In terms of the unified leadership of Party committees, it is clarified that the Party Central Committee should strengthen centralized and unified leadership over the work of letters and visits, stipulate that local Party committees should lead the work of letters and visits in their respective regions, implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, implement the requirements of the Party organizations at higher levels, coordinate the construction of a responsibility system for letters and visits, and support and supervise the work of letters and visits by lower-level Party organizations. In terms of the implementation of government organizations, it stipulates that governments at all levels shall implement the requirements of the Party committees and governments at higher levels and the Party committees at the same level, and perform their duties of organizing the forces of all parties to handle letter-or-visit matters in a timely and proper manner, and studying and resolving outstanding problems and difficult and complex letter-or-visit issues of a policy and mass nature. With regard to the coordination of the joint conference on letters and visits, it is stipulated that the central joint conference on letters and visits will make overall plans, coordinate, promote and supervise the implementation of the national letters and visits work, and at the same time further standardize the establishment and operation of the local joint conferences on letters and visits. With regard to the promotion of the letter-or-visit departments, it is stipulated that the party committees and government departments for letters and visits are specialized organs for carrying out letter-or-visit work, and are responsible for accepting, transferring, and assigning letter-or-visit matters, coordinating the resolution of important letter-or-visit issues, and supervising and inspecting the handling and implementation of important letter-or-visit matters. With regard to the joint efforts of all parties, it is stipulated that party committees at all levels and other organs and units other than the government shall do a good job in the work of letters and visits within the scope of their respective duties, and broaden and improve the institutionalized channels for social forces to participate in the work of letters and visits. The "Regulations" also specify the safeguard measures for the work of letters and visits in terms of the construction of departments for letters and visits, the education and training of cadres, and financial support.
7. Q: What are the requirements of the "Regulations" for letter-writers and visitors to submit letter-or-visit matters?
Answer: The "Regulations" stipulate that letter-writers and visitors may use information networks, letters, telephones, faxes, visits, and other forms to report the situation to organs and units at all levels, and make suggestions, opinions, or complaints. The unit has also raised the same letter-or-visit matter and other circumstances, and made relevant provisions. Second, it stipulates that if a letter-writer or visitor submits a letter-or-visit matter in the form of a visit, he or she shall submit it to a reception place established or designated by an organ or unit at the same or higher level that has the authority to handle the matter; When multiple people visit and raise a common letter-or-visit matter, no more than five representatives shall be elected. Petitioning matters involving litigation rights and remedies shall be submitted to the relevant political and legal departments in accordance with the procedures provided by laws and regulations. It is necessary to further consolidate territorial responsibilities and stipulate that organs and units at all levels shall conscientiously receive and handle visits from the masses, solve problems locally, and guide letter-writers and visitors to report problems on the spot. Third, it stipulates that letter-writers and visitors shall abide by relevant laws and regulations in the course of letter-or-visit petitions, shall not harm the interests of the state, society, or collectives or the legitimate rights of other citizens, shall conscientiously safeguard social and public order and letter-or-visit order, and shall not illegally gather in the vicinity of the office premises of organs or units or in public places.
8. Question: What are the procedures for accepting and handling letter-or-visit matters stipulated in the "Regulations"?
Answer: According to the different nature of letter-or-visit matters, the "Regulations" distinguish between suggestions and opinions, reports and accusations, and appeals and resolutions, and respectively clarify the procedures for accepting and handling them, so as to ensure that reasonable and lawful appeals can obtain reasonable and lawful results in accordance with the provisions and procedures of the law. With regard to letter-or-visit matters in the category of suggestions and opinions, it is stipulated that the organs and units that have the authority to handle them shall carefully study and demonstrate; At the same time, it stipulates that party committees and governments at all levels should improve the system of soliciting people's suggestions and take the initiative to listen to the suggestions and opinions of the masses. With regard to letter-or-visit matters related to reports and accusations, it is stipulated that discipline inspection and supervision organs or organs and units with the authority to handle them shall receive, accept, handle, and give feedback in accordance with regulations, discipline, and law, and that party committees and government departments for letters and visits shall, in accordance with their authority for cadre management, inform and report to relevant departments and responsible comrades on the situation of letters and visits reflecting cadre problems. For appeals and resolutions, it is further subdivided into six situations to be handled: first, the procedures for handling law-related and litigation-related matters, which are applicable to adjudication organs, procuratorial organs, and public security organs; the second is the arbitration procedure, which is applicable to the arbitration department; the third is the intra-party procedure for handling party members' appeals and other matters, which is applicable to party organs; the fourth is the administrative procedures for handling administrative reconsideration and other matters; Fifth, perform the duty of investigating and handling illegal acts in accordance with the law, which is applicable to administrative organs; Sixth, for matters that do not fall under the above circumstances, the letter-writer or visitor shall be heard to state the facts and reasons, and the letter-writer or visitor shall be investigated and verified, and a written opinion on the handling of the letter-or-visit shall be issued, which shall be applicable to all organs and units. For matters falling under the sixth circumstance, the letter-writer or visitor may apply for a review.
9. Q: What kind of supervision system does the "Regulations" construct? How can there be accountability for violations?
A: Effective oversight is a necessary condition for ensuring accountability. The "Regulations" have established a supervision system including supervision responsibility, supervision mechanism, and accountability. The first is to strengthen the supervision of the work of letters and visits, stipulating that the party committees and governments shall organize special inspections, that the joint conference on the work of letters and visits, its offices, and the departments for letters and visits shall carry out inspections according to the needs of their work, and that the party committees and government supervision departments shall include difficult and complex letter-or-visit issues in the scope of supervision. The second is to strengthen the assessment of the work of letters and visits, stipulating that the party committees and the government shall conduct an annual assessment and report on the work of letters and visits, and pay attention to the use of the results of the evaluation. Third, it is necessary to strengthen the responsibility of the departments for letters and visits to put forward the "three proposals" of improving work, improving policies, and pursuing responsibility, establish a system for reporting on letters and visits, and do a good job of linking up with the work of inspection and inspection and the supervision of cadres.
At the same time, the "Regulations" clearly stipulate the circumstances and methods that need to be investigated. For organs and units, stipulate responsibility for causing problems, responsibility for registration and transfer, responsibility for accepting problems, responsibility for handling problems, and other responsibilities, and strictly deal with organs, units, and personnel who violate responsibility in accordance with regulations, discipline, and law. In the case of letter-writers or visitors, if the circumstances of causing disturbances and disturbing order or pestering petitioners are serious, constituting a violation of the administration of public security, or violating the relevant laws and regulations on assemblies, processions and demonstrations, the public security organs shall take necessary on-site measures to deal with them in accordance with the law and impose public security administrative penalties; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility is pursued in accordance with law.
10. Q: How to do a good job in the study, publicity and implementation of the "Regulations"?
Answer: The CPC Central Committee has put forward clear requirements for all localities and departments to do a good job in the study, publicity, and implementation of the "Regulations". The Central Joint Conference on Letters and Visits and the State Bureau of Letters and Visits will supervise and guide the implementation of the "Regulations" in the following aspects. The first is to strengthen study and publicity. Conscientiously organize and carry out study, training, publicity and interpretation, comprehensively and accurately grasp the basic spirit and main content of the "Regulations", and take the opportunity of studying and implementing the "Regulations" to create a good environment in the whole society for doing things according to law, finding the law when encountering problems, solving problems and using the law, and resolving contradictions by relying on the law. The second is to improve the system and mechanism. Conscientiously implement the provisions of the "Regulations", improve supporting measures, and promote the formation of a sound, complete, and effective system for the work of letters and visits. Promote all regions and departments to do a good job of connecting the relevant work before the implementation of the "Regulations" and the repealing of the "Regulations on Letters and Visits" of the State Council in accordance with legal procedures, so as to ensure a smooth and smooth transition. The third is to do a good job in supervising and inspecting the implementation. Carry out special research and supervision in a timely manner, gain an in-depth understanding of the implementation of the "Regulations", strengthen problem orientation, promote the resolution of difficulties in work, and implement the Party Central Committee's principles, policies, and decision-making arrangements on petition work. The Joint Conference on Letters and Visits and the Letters and Visits Department will keep in mind the duties and missions of solving difficulties for the people and sharing worries for the Party, adhere to the supremacy of the people, take the initiative to take action, and take the implementation of the "Regulations" as the guide, continuously improve their work ability and level, and continuously improve the level of standardization and legalization of the work of letters and visits.
Source: State Bureau of Letters and Visits