As China's annual Two Sessions convene, the world turns its attention to how grassroots voices—particularly those from rural villages—resonate at the highest levels of governance. This year, the story of Sheng Xiuling, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) from northeast China, offers a compelling glimpse into the mechanisms bridging local concerns and national agendas.
For weeks before the Two Sessions, Sheng traveled across her rural constituency, gathering insights from farmers, small business owners, and community leaders. "Every opinion notebook entry matters," she explained, referencing the systematic collection of public feedback that NPC deputies compile. Her notes included appeals for improved agricultural subsidies, expanded rural healthcare access, and digital infrastructure upgrades—priorities echoing nationwide rural revitalization efforts.
The Two Sessions, comprising the NPC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), formalize this participatory process. Deputies like Sheng present proposals based on their fieldwork, which undergo rigorous review before potentially becoming policy. Last year, similar grassroots feedback directly informed decisions to increase grain production incentives and expand e-commerce training programs in remote areas.
Experts note this consultative model reflects China's emphasis on "whole-process people's democracy," where local perspectives inform legislative and socioeconomic planning. While critics abroad often overlook these channels, villagers like Li Qiang, a soybean farmer from Heilongjiang, affirm their impact: "When Sheng brought our irrigation issues to Beijing last year, we had new water systems by harvest season."
As global observers analyze the Two Sessions' outcomes, Sheng's journey underscores an often-unseen reality: in China's governance system, even the remotest village retains pathways to influence national policy.
