Citizen hotline focus of documentary

A documentary film highlighting the Chinese capital's efforts to improve urban governance through swift responses to public complaints opens in major cinemas on Tuesday.

Titled Hotline Beijing, the film delves into the city's 12345 citizen service hotline, which serves as a crucial channel for addressing public concerns.

Through seven main stories, the documentary explores challenges such as alley parking management, retrofitting old buildings with elevators, and the individual growth of a call center operator. It also examines legislation on handling public complaints and a foreign journalist's research into Beijing's governance mechanisms.

One segment focuses on the development of the Beijing Municipal Regulations on Swift Response to Public Complaints, the first of its kind in China. The regulations aim to ensure complaints are handled efficiently.

During the drafting process, more than 11,000 deputies of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress gathered public input through various channels, collecting over 7,500 comments and suggestions. The process illustrates how residents contribute their ideas to policymaking.

Beijing's approach to managing a megacity of more than 20 million people has drawn attention as a potential model for other cities in China and beyond. The topic is expected to be widely discussed at China's annual legislative and political advisory meetings, known as the "two sessions", in March.

"The main feature of the regulation is to fully demonstrate the people's democratic participation throughout the entire process," said Ma Yide, a National People's Congress deputy and a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. "The municipal legislation body has organized meetings at all levels to collect opinions widely from the public."

As a deputy, he also proposed using cutting-edge technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain to create a mobile application or mini-program as a tool for collecting prevalent issues from the public, fostering a data-driven approach to governance, during a previous two sessions meeting.

At the film's premiere last week, director Xu Jieqin, along with the production team and cast, shared their experiences with an audience of more than 200 people.

"The research and filming process has been a journey of understanding urban governance," Xu said. "In a city that fields more than 60,000 calls to the hotline daily, how do we respond to people's demands? What mechanisms ensure effective governance? These questions deeply impressed us, and we want to share the answers with audiences."

The filmmakers began production in March 2024, visiting more than 40 government agencies, interviewing over 100 staff members and filming in 120 locations across nine Beijing districts. The documentary captures the real emotions of frontline workers as they navigate the complexities of public complaints.

One story follows a young female hotline operator who initially struggles with the pressures of dealing with both reasonable and unreasonable complaints but gradually finds meaning in her work. The narrative brings the public and hotline operators emotionally closer.

Huangfu Yichuan, a research fellow at the China Film Art Research Center and a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said the film has an international perspective.

"It prompts viewers to reflect on the fact that urban governance depends not only on the government, but also on the joint efforts of both the government and the people," Huangfu said.

Liu Shixin, an audience member at last week's screening, said the film highlighted the dedication of frontline workers.

"When I saw them facing complex demands, I not only admired their work, but was also deeply moved by their silent dedication," Liu said.

"We often overlook these ordinary heroes who quietly contribute in their positions, yet their efforts make society more harmonious."

Beijing launched its "swift response to public complaints "reform in January 2019, centered on the 12345 hotline.

Over the past six years, the hotline has received 150 million appeals, with the resolution rate increasing from 53 percent to 97 percent and the satisfaction rate rising from 65 percent to 97.3 percent in that time, the Beijing Municipal Administrative Service and Data Management Bureau said.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn