Party organizations gain strength to serve people

CHANGCHUN - Tang Qianyi, 77, looks happy and satisfied as she rests on a bed, enjoying the warmth and comfort of the welfare house where she lives.

When her husband died several years ago, Tang, a resident of Changchun city, Jilin province, found herself an elderly widow relying on the minimum subsistence allowance and other people's help for a living.

In June 2011, Jilin started a campaign asking local Party organizations to help the poor and disadvantaged. In response, the Party organization of Xixin district in Changchun helped get Tang into the Xixin Welfare House free of charge.

"My life has been totally changed. The living conditions here are nice, and I have been gaining weight over the past year and a half in this welfare house," Tang said.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has been taking a range of measures to build up grassroots Party organizations to make them better serve the people.

During the past two years, Wuding county in Southwest China's Yunnan province has invested more than 300,000 yuan ($48,125) in the establishment of a Party branch in Huapo Village.

Hu Guifang, the Party branch secretary, said the Party branch's office building is among the most beautiful in the village, and villagers often gather there to communicate with officials.

"I am always trying to think of ways to make the villagers richer. Our average per capita income has grown by over 2,000 yuan from last year," Hu said.

More and more villagers are willing to become Party members, and two villagers have joined the Party this year, according to Hu.

A report to the 18th National Congress of the CPC in November emphasized the importance of grassroots Party organizations, saying they should be strengthened to better push development, serve and unite the people and promote harmony.

In Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, many officials and members of county and township Party committees are required to take temporary posts in village Party branches. This requirement is aimed at enhancing cooperation between Party organizations at different levels, as well as promoting the sharing of resources and better serving the people.

During the past three years, Jilin province has built 900 Party member entrepreneurship training bases and 1,330 entrepreneurship practice bases. The province has also set up a 150 million-yuan entrepreneurship fund for Party members and offered a total of 1.3 billion yuan in small loans for entrepreneurship.

Qu Wenfu, a villager in Yongji county, said thanks to the government support, many rural Party members have started their own businesses and helped promote the development of the rural economy.

Many poor and unemployed people live in the Dingxiang Community in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, and the community's Party organization has established a fund to help those in urgent need of economic support.

Meanwhile, the community has also built a Party member service center covering more than 1,000 square meters. Residents there are encouraged to spend their spare time in the center, which is equipped with facilities such as a gym, chess and card rooms and multimedia classrooms.

Since the beginning of this year, Jilin province has established 1,044 such community service centers to enrich the lives of residents.

Huang Yanming, a member of the Standing Committee of the Jilin Provincial Committee of the CPC, said in the cause of promoting the development of grassroots Party organizations, the province has established clear goals and efficient measures and the overall strength of the grassroots Party organizations has been greatly improved.

Related readings:

Xi warns about risks to Party

Party policies help to improve working style

Xi insists on multi-party cooperation

CPC leaders show will to change

Specialcoverage:

18th National Congress of the CPC

Focus on top CPC leaders