People of Xumao Village in Zouping City, east China’s Shandong Province, fill out ballots in private booths, guided by community election staff, on April 17, 2021.

Democracy is a common value shared by all humanity. The pursuit of democracy serves as the driving force behind China’s development. Following the roadmap towards the great national rejuvenation through reform and opening-up, targeted poverty eradication, efforts to realize modernization, and the pursuit of common prosperity, the Chinese people have shaken off poverty and now live well-off lives with dignity because of the effective implementation of a people’s democracy.

The Chinese democracy model, socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics, ensures that the country is run by the people. It is chosen by the Chinese people historically. China’s progress in democracy is now guided by the concept of whole-process people’s democracy, which integrates process-oriented democracy with result-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy, and people’s democracy with the will of the state. It is a model of democracy that covers all aspects of the democratic process and all sectors of society; it is a true democracy that works. 

China’s whole-process people’s democracy is mainly embodied in four areas: electing officials, deliberating state affairs, making policies, and overseeing the use of power. Our Special Report in this issue intends to present to our readers a glimpse of what the Chinese democracy looks like with specific examples about how people exercise their democratic rights through various institutions such as people’s congress of different levels and national and local committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference as well as grassroots organizations, along with renowned scholars’ commentaries on the socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.