Chinese president stresses rural democracy

Chinese President Hu Jintao has urged to establish and improve the mechanism of democratic self-governance of villages that can both secure the Communist Party's leadership and safeguard villagers' rights. In a recent written instruction, Hu called on local officials to make efforts to improve the grassroot governance mechanism in rural areas in line with the basic conditions of the country. Other leaders including Vice President Xi Jinping have also made similar instructions. In a meeting on Tuesday in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged officials to study the leaders' instructions. The building of grassroot governance organizations in rural areas must be strengthened, and the village-level democracy and self-government mechanism must be further improved, Li said. Source: Xinhua http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-11/11/content_380330.htm

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