The opinions and suggestions submitted by representatives and deputies were collected through continuous visits and investigations at the grassroots level during their duties. National People's Congress representative Cao Chen is a community secretary from Xiaoying Street, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. She has been working in grassroots communities for 18 years. What suggestions are she going to bring to the National Two Sessions this year?

When the reporter came to Xiaoyingxiang Community, several elderly volunteers were making steamed buns in the community's love-sharing kitchen.

Guo Xin, a resident of Xiaoyingxiang Community, Xiaoying Street, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou: When we delivered food to the elderly in our community, the elderly said that when it was very hot, they wanted to eat some pumpkin steamed buns. It seemed that they didn’t have a good appetite for eating every day. Later, the volunteers gave this information to our secretary.

The secretary mentioned by residents is Cao Chen, the National People's Congress representative, the Party Secretary of Xiaoyingxiang Community, and the director of the neighborhood committee.

National People's Congress Representative Cao Chen: Making steamed buns started on July 26, 2023, and by last year, a total of 80,000 steamed buns have been made.

The Xiaoyingxiang Community where Cao Chen is located was built in the 1980s and is a typical old community. There are 10,800 people in the community, and more than one-third are elderly people over 60 years old.

After learning that the elderly wanted to eat steamed buns, Cao Chen, community grid workers, residents' representatives, and local city and district people's congress representatives immediately convened a council meeting. After discussion, it was decided to first purchase flour, yeast and other materials through community fundraising to meet the needs of the elderly. After the news spread, residents, units, enterprises, and caring people in the area have worked hard to donate goods and money, and many young people with pastry production experience and ability also took the initiative to join in.

By delivering steamed buns, community workers gradually become familiar with residents, and making steamed buns has become a fixed public welfare activity in the community.

Resident of Xiaoyingxiang Community, Xiaoying Street, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou City Zhu Lingyun: I didn’t know each other before, but now I know each other and care about you. The atmosphere in our community is much better than before, whether between residents or neighbors.

Cao Chen told reporters that there are tens of thousands of residents in Xiaoyingxiang Community, but there are only 18 community workers. On the one hand, community work is complicated and sometimes difficult to meet the various service needs of the elderly; on the other hand, if social workers visit each day, some elderly people will feel severe discomfort. What can we do is to see the elderly frequently and to be widely accepted by the elderly?

National People's Congress Representative Cao Chen: This steamed bun is a concrete thing that can really knock on the door of the next door. Our steamed buns were sent out and opened the door of the residents. We also received more opinions and suggestions from residents as soon as possible.

The small steamed buns have become the entry point for Cao Chen to perform his duties. At the weekly meeting, the feedback received by the door-to-door homes is discussed and recommended by everyone to resolve conflicts and solve problems for residents. In this process, the network and foundation of grassroots autonomy and "intelligent governance" have also gradually taken shape.

National People's Congress Representative Cao Chen: We hope more residents should understand that the grassroots governance of the community, its resources and its hematopoietic function still lies in themselves. Only when everyone can serve everyone together, our resources will definitely not be exhausted.

Resident of Xiaoyingxiang Community, Xiaoying Street, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou Xu Bingguo: I am 72 years old. There were several elderly people with mobility difficulties, and we delivered food to their homes. We are old neighbors, and some conflicts are actually small things, and it is easy to resolve if you are easy to talk to. The governance of the entire society is the society of all people, and of course we must also participate. When we serve them, they also give us a lot of happiness and are very close and intimate with us, so I have realized social value myself.

In November last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Aging Office and other institutions jointly launched the "Silver Age Action" in the new era, encouraging the elderly to participate in grassroots governance, social services and other voluntary activities based on the principles of conscious, voluntary and within their means. Cao Chen is also preparing to bring "relevant suggestions on giving full play to the important role of silver-hailing talents in assisting grassroots governance" to this year's National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In addition, she also intends to make suggestions on the issues related to aging-friendly transformation she found during her visit to the families of elderly residents in the community.

National People's Congress Representative Cao Chen: We found that the application process for aging-friendly transformation is still a little more cumbersome. My suggestion is to simplify the process, so that the elderly can apply independently after surfing the Internet. The second is that some public welfare aging-friendly assessment services should be launched in advance. Third, I think the supervision needs to be increased. The original intention of this suggestion is to have better resources to serve the elderly in need.

Reporter's Notes

When following National People's Congress representative Cao Chen to investigate and visit the grassroots community, she told reporters that the endogenous driving force of community governance comes from residents living in the community. The small steamed buns provide more opportunities for the benign interaction between community residents, community workers and co-construction social groups. The "big things" and "small things" that residents have reported can be resolved through collective efforts, and the trust between each other has also been enhanced through sincere mutual assistance.