The local government of Linzi, a township in Linyi county of Dezhou, Shandong province, is ramping up innovation in governance to improve services for residents.

"We took grid management as the basic principle in governing the 48 natural villages under the township and established a six-level management system based on the administrative units to ensure full coverage of the grids, unimpeded communication and minimum blind spots in management with seamless services. With such efforts, small matters can be directly resolved within the village while big ones done within the town,'" said Zhu Yuandong, Party secretary of Linzi.

Since the beginning of this year, the township government has been ramping up its efforts in governance to enhance professional management and services using information and high-tech solutions. With "warming people's hearts" as the work focus, the local civil servants have been ramping up innovation in social governance models, creating new pathways for diversified resolution, and supporting the grassroots masses under a warm and comfortable township for local residents.

They have launched various activities to establish closer ties with local residents, and take the activities as platforms to provide information on early prevention of various potential risks. Currently, a frontline service team consisting of 1,134 people with Party members, volunteers and grid administrators as the main body has been developed. They have conducted a large-scale community survey with 5,512 visits, filled out 4,423 problem questionnaires and received feedback on 31 key issues.

"The township government has made it a closed-loop mechanism — recording feedback on key issues first; analyzing every detail of them and coming up with solutions and implementation plans; and then conducting reviews after cases were closed. We have also enhanced efforts in eldercare, and services for vulnerable groups … So far, all these efforts have delivered good results," said Xu Bin, a deputy-level cadre at the political and legal affairs commission of Linyi.

The town also continues to deepen legal awareness promotion by visiting communities, villages, enterprises and schools. They have also organized legal lectures, anti-cult publicity activities, distributed promotional materials and answered legal inquiries from the public.

So far, the government has visited all 28 communities (villages), six schools and two key enterprises in the entire town. In addition, with such efforts, a legal lecture group was formed to address typical cases of marriage and relationship disputes, family disputes, and neighborhood disputes. The team used "more straightforward words" and real examples while giving lectures to local residents to achieve better results.

To address civil disputes more efficiently, the town is vigorously promoting the construction of mediation organizations and an established special unit to this end. Departments with various functions such as judicial assistance and legal mediation were set up under the center. The center aims to promote the work of mediation before and during litigation, legally confirm the legal effect of the mediation agreement, and promote seamless connection between civil lawsuits and mediation work.

In addition, a mediator team composed of 135 civil servants from the town and village, two representatives, and one local party committee member was set up to strengthen the legal awareness and policies, and provide more professional knowledge and mediation skills to help residents learn about the laws.