中英对照：构建社会治理共同体的中国密码

构建社会治理共同体的中国密码

China’s Secret for Establishing Social Governance Community

当代中国与世界研究院特约研究员、中央党校（国家行政学院）公共管理教研部副教授 张克

每一个中国人都生活在一个巨大的社会网之中。承载着14亿人的喜怒哀乐、生老病死的中国社会是如何运行的？为什么中国能够避免“中等收入陷阱”，在实现经济高速增长的同时保持社会长期稳定？中国被认为是世界上最安全的国家之一，这是如何做到的？让我们尝试从2019年10月底召开的中共十九届四中全会的决议中，找找看理解中国社会治理的密码。

The Chinese people are living in a large social network. For its 1.4 billion citizens, the Chinese society carries on its shoulders their joys and sorrows, and witnesses their ups and downs. How does China run its society? How can it avoid the “middle-income trap” and maintain long-term social stability while achieving rapid economic growth? Also, China is considered to be one of the safest countries in the world. How does that happen? Through examining the decision of the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee held at the end of October 2019, let’s try to unlock the secret for understanding China’s social governance.

中共十九届四中全会通过了《中共中央关于坚持和完善中国特色社会主义制度、推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化若干重大问题的决定》。决定认为，社会治理是国家治理的重要方面，必须加强和创新社会治理，完善党委领导、政府负责、民主协商、社会协同、公众参与、法治保障、科技支撑的社会治理体系，建设人人有责、人人尽责、人人享有的社会治理共同体，确保人民安居乐业、社会安定有序，建设更高水平的平安中国。这一大段表述回答了14亿人口共同体的社会治理秘诀，归根到底就是六个字“共建、共治、共享”。

The fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted a decision on some major issues concerning how to uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance. The decision holds that social governance is an important aspect of national governance, and it is necessary for strengthening and innovating on social governance, as well as for improving the social governance system that combines Party leadership, government responsibility, democratic consultation, social coordination, public participation, legal protection, and sci-tech support. It is necessary for building a community of social governance in which everyone is responsible, everyone undertakes his or her due obligations, and everyone enjoys the benefits, for ensuring that people live and work in harmony while the society remains stable and orderly, and for building a higher level of safe China. This is the secret of social governance in China, which can be summarized in these words: “Mutual construction, mutual governance, and mutual sharing.”

一、中国有个枫桥镇，化解矛盾传经验。20世纪60年代初，越来越多的中国人开始知道浙江省绍兴市诸暨县枫桥镇，那里的人创造了依靠当地民众就地化解矛盾的“枫桥经验”。“枫桥经验”的精髓，就是民事民议、民事民办、民事民管，小事不出村、大事不出镇。60年来，“枫桥经验”被推广、被复制、被应用、被演化，形成了一种以调解化解矛盾的基层治理模式。比如，枫桥派出所老杨调解中心的杨光照，就是远近闻名的调解高手。从2010年至今，他靠着自己通讯录里100多名“得力助手”——来自枫桥社会各界愿意为调解纠纷出力的热心志愿者，受理事件2100余起，调解成功率和当事人满意率分别达到98%和100%，所涉8600余万元调解款全部兑现，成为化解邻里矛盾的“金字招牌”。这种把日常生活中碰到的烦心事和小矛盾化解在基层的能力和经验，使中国社会的公共安全得以维系和保障。

I. “Fengqiao Experience”

Since the 1960s, the Chinese people have slowly become familiar with the town of Fengqiao. Located in Zhuji county, Shaoxing city, Zhejiang province, Fengqiao town was originally a little known, insignificant place. However, it became famous for a method its people created to resolve differences between themselves, since dubbed as the “Fengqiao Experience.” The essence of this method is to let the people engage in discussion, operation, and administration of civil affairs, to solve minor issues within the village, and to fix larger problems within the town. Over the past 60 years, the “Fengqiao Experience” has been promoted, copied, applied, and derived on across China, forming a grassroots governance model that resolves conflicts through mediation. For example, Yang Guangming, founder of the Old Yang Mediation Center of Fengqiao Police Station, is a well-known mediator. Since 2010, he has handled more than 2,100 cases with the help of over 100 volunteers from all walks of life in Fengqiao. With their combined efforts, the success rate of mediation and the satisfaction rate of the parties have reached 98% and 100%, respectively, and more than 86 million yuan (US$12.1 million) involved in mediation have been fully delivered. Such ability and experience of resolving minor conflicts at the grassroots level have enabled China to maintain and guarantee its social security.

2020年1月开始，一场新冠肺炎疫情席卷全球。疫情发生后，中国政府果断采取了停工、停学措施，中国人自觉履行公民义务居家隔离长达1个多月。尤其是武汉等疫情严重地区的老百姓长时间自我隔离，难免有些情绪宣泄。2020年3月5日，中国为应对疫情向武汉派出的中央指导组到青山区翠园社区实地察看社区防控和群众生活保障情况。有居民透过窗户大喊，“假的，假的”，称社区物业假装让志愿者送菜送肉给业主。后经查证，居民反映的问题实际上是小区业主认为停车收费过高、漏水房屋维修不及时，开窗喊话是为了表达对物业公司服务质量不高的不满，并不是针对政府和社区志愿者。对于这件事，负责物资配送的社区志愿者吴晓琼觉得有些委屈，但她说“居民闷在屋里这么久了，有点怨气很正常，不能埋怨他们。相反，大家都应该更好地去关心关爱他们。”武汉市、青山区两级政府在现场发现问题后，立即组织物业公司、社区干部和志愿者及时回应业主诉求，迅速解决了社区内部的小纠纷。

Started from January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has now swept across the whole world. After the initial outbreak, the Chinese government resolutely took measures to suspend work and school, and the Chinese people vigorously fulfilled their civic obligations to stay at home for more than a month. In particular, people in the hardest-hit regions such as Wuhan isolated themselves for a much longer time, which inevitably led to some emotional distresses and outbursts. On March 5, 2020, during an inspection in the Cuiyuan Community in Wuhan’s Qingshan district, the central guiding team in response to the COVID-19 epidemic unexpectedly came across some residents who shouted loudly through their window, “Fake, the whole thing is fake!” A video clip recording the yelling went viral on the internet, and some people claimed that those residents were trying to petition the central guiding team, because the Cuiyuan Community had pretended to ask volunteers to deliver vegetables and meat but in fact did not give them anything. However, after a thorough investigation, it turned out the real problem was that some residents of the community thought the parking fees were too high, and leaky roofs were not repaired promptly. These inconveniences led them to shout through the window to express their dissatisfaction with the service quality of the property management company, and they were not throwing a tantrum at the government or the community volunteers. Wu Xiaoqiong, a Cuiyuan Community volunteer in charge of material distribution, felt aggrieved about the incident, but she said, “I totally understood. Anyone could become a little resentful if you are stuck in the house for so long. We can’t blame the residents. Instead, we should improve our work and take better care of them.” Soon after the incident, relevant administrative departments of both Wuhan city and Qingshan district immediately organized the community’s property management company, cadres, and volunteers to make a prompt response, and the small conflict was quickly resolved without further escalation.

二、人民群众齐参与，扎密平安防护网。近年来，中国多次被评为世界上最安全的国家之一。一位用15个月的时间沿着长城从中国西部的嘉峪关走到东部山海关的阿根廷徒步爱好者告诉媒体，在4000多公里的旅途中，不管是在城市还是在郊野，从来没有遇到过抢劫、盗窃等任何危险的事情，所有中国人都非常热情友好，并且脸上都洋溢着幸福的笑容，中国是世界上最稳定、最安全的国家。

II. A Closely Knitted Safety Protection Network with Participation from All

China has been rated as one of the safest countries in the world many times. An Argentine hiker spent 15 months walking along the Great Wall from Jiayu Pass in western China to Shanhai Pass in the east. He told the media afterwards that, during his more than 4,000-kilometer journey, whether in the city or in the countryside, he had never encountered anything dangerous such as robbery or theft, and all Chinese people were very warm and friendly and had happy smiles on their faces. He said he believes that China is the safest and most stable country in the world.

中国人的安全感从何而来？不仅来自对政府治理能力的信心，更来自于身边的安全守护者——平安志愿者。这些平安志愿者有着不同的群体名字，干着相似的事情。其中，北京市西城区的平安志愿者团队成立于2008年，目的就是号召辖区居民志愿参与平安社区建设。目前，西城区已有实名注册志愿者5万多人，平均每百人中就有5人。他们以治安巡逻的方式，承担着反恐防爆线索提供、重大安保活动的社会防控，以及社区的应急处突、邻里守望、民意收集、隐患排查、矛盾调解、秩序劝导、特殊困难人群帮扶、环境服务等任务，有效预防了违法犯罪活动，维护了社会和谐稳定。

So, how do people obtain their sense of security in China? It comes not only from their confidence in the government, but also from the “guardians” around them – the safety volunteers. They might have different names, but they are all doing the same thing. For instance, founded in 2008, the Safety Volunteer Team of Xicheng District, Beijing, now has over 50,000 real-name-registered volunteers, which means that five out of every 100 residents in Xicheng district have signed up to serve for the construction of a safe community. They patrol the streets, receive tips that help to prevent terrorism and crime, uncover potential safety risks, resolve conflicts, maintain order, help the disabled and others in need, protect the environment, etc. Their efforts have effectively curbed illegal activities and improved social stability.

新冠肺炎疫情发生以来，为充实基层社区防控力量，让长期值守的社区工作者和志愿者得到轮休，北京市广泛动员民众参与疫情防控，特别是迅速抽调7万余名机关企事业单位人员下沉到社区、农村，参加一线工作。据统计，北京市共有数十万名楼门长、志愿者、热心群众主动参与疫情防控。“远亲近邻”“守望相助”是中国社会传统观念，这种共同体意识使得中国老百姓真正相信“人人为我，我为人人”，甘愿为守护一方平安贡献自己的力量。

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, in order to bolster the numbers and capabilities of volunteers and grassroots communities, and also to give rests to community workers and volunteers who have been on duty for a long time, Beijing has extensively mobilized the public to participate in the prevention and control of the outbreak. In particular, more than 70,000 people from government departments, enterprises, and institutions have been quickly deployed to residential communities and rural areas. According to reports, in Beijing alone, hundreds of thousands of volunteers have taken the initiative to participate in epidemic prevention and control. “Taking care of the ones around you and offering them help at difficult times” has long been a good tradition of the Chinese society. The sense of shared community makes the Chinese people truly believe in the idea of “all for one, one for all,” and they are always willing to contribute their efforts to protecting the safety of everyone.

三、应急管理一盘棋，公共安全有保障。在中国人的社会治理实践中，维护公共安全既是重中之重，也是政府的职责所在。中国把公共安全的范围限定为涉及自然灾害、生产安全事故、公共卫生事件以及社会安全事件等四类突发事件的预防、处置和重建。中共十九届四中全会对国家公共安全体制机制建设作出周密安排，特别强调构建统一指挥、专常兼备、反应灵敏、上下联动的应急管理体制，优化国家应急管理能力体系建设，提高防灾减灾救灾能力。在此之前，中央政府还新组建了国家应急管理部，整合了分散于国家安监总局、国务院办公厅、公安、民政等十余个部门的职责，优化重组应急力量和资源，并要求各级地方政府成立应急管理局，由此构建起中国特色的应急管理体制。

III. Combined and Coordinated Efforts in Emergency Management to Ensure Public Safety

In practicing Chinese social governance, maintaining public security is not only the top priority among responsibilities of the government. China defines the scope of public safety work as the prevention, resolution, and reconstruction efforts concerning four types of emergencies, including natural disasters, production safety accidents, public health incidents, and social security incidents. The fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee made careful arrangements for the construction of the national public safety system and mechanism, with special emphasis on building an emergency management system with unified command, reserves of specialized and regular staff, the capability of quick response, and effective coordination at different levels. The meeting stressed optimization in building the system of national emergency management, and improvement to disaster prevention, minimization, and relief capabilities. Prior to this, the central government also reshuffled its departments and established the new Ministry of National Emergency Management, which integrated the duties of more than a dozen departments including the State Administration of Work Safety (now abolished), the General Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, etc. By optimizing and reorganizing forces and resources, and also by requiring local governments at all levels to establish their own emergency management bureaus, a new emergency management system with Chinese characteristics had been established.

这种从上至下的公共安全隐患排查和安全预防控制体系，使得中国在应对重大公共安全事件时表现出与西方治理体系的结构性不同。“全国一盘棋”的响应联动，真正确保了令行禁止、言出法随。新冠肺炎疫情爆发后，中央及各地方及时启动重大公共卫生突发事件响应机制，建立统一高效的指挥体系，中国领导人习近平亲自指挥抗击疫情。中国还成立了中央应对新冠肺炎疫情工作领导小组作为决策指挥机构，建立了包括32个成员单位的国务院联防联控机制，仅仅用了不到2个月时间就成功控制住了境内疫情。世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞感慨，中方行动之快、规模之大世所罕见，这是中国制度的优势，有关经验值得其他国家借鉴。

This top-down public safety management system made China’s response to major public safety incidents structurally different from those of Western governance systems. Coordinated efforts by the whole country ensured that orders were obeyed and strategies were implemented. After the initial outbreak, China’s central and local governments promptly activated the response mechanism for major public health emergencies and established a unified and efficient command system. President Xi Jinping personally directed the fight against the outbreak. China also set up a central leading group for dealing with COVID-19 as a decision-making and command body, and established the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council composed of 32 member units. Due to those efforts, China was able to control the outbreak domestically in under two months. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, praised China for acting so quickly and on a scale rarely seen in the world, which demonstrated the advantage of China’s system. He also said that other countries should learn from China’s experience in fighting the outbreak.

四、众人之事众人办，资源下沉服好务。中共十九届四中全会提出，社会治理和服务重心将进一步向基层下移，让人力、物力、财力等更多资源下沉到一线，确保基层社会群体更好地为民众提供精准化、精细化服务。

IV. Enhancing Service at Grassroots Level

The fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed that the focus of social governance and services will be further shifted to the grassroots level, allowing more people, materials, funds, and other types of resources to concentrate on the frontline, and ensuring that primary-level social organizations can better provide more targeted and humanized services to the public.

湖北省武汉市相当于11个纽约市大，是中国中部的重要工业基地、科教基地和交通大枢纽，也是新冠肺炎疫情最早的爆发地。1月23日，为了有效切断病毒传播途径，遏制疫情蔓延势头，湖北省武汉市全市城市公交、地铁、轮渡、长途客运暂停运营，机场、火车站离汉通道暂时关闭。一个千万级人口的超大城市因疫情“封城”，这在人类历史上还是第一次。交通中断、市场关闭，小区施行全封闭管理，居民在家隔离不得外出，基本生活物资如何供应？社区这个按居民居住地理区域划分的基层组织开始发挥作用，社区党组织、社区居民委员会、社区工作服务站的党员干部、志愿者一齐上阵，负责为居民采购物资、分发配送，充分展现了基层组织在社会治理中的巨大能量。

Wuhan is China’s fifth-largest city and covers more than 3,200 square miles, which is the size of 11 New York Cities. As an important industrial, science, and education base, as well as a transportation hub in central China, Wuhan saw the earliest outbreak of COVID-19. On Jan. 23, 2020, in order to effectively cut off the transmission of the virus and curb its spread, buses, subways, ferries, and long-distance passenger transports in Wuhan were suspended, and airports and railway stations were temporarily closed. This was the first time in human history that a mega-city with a population of tens of millions had gone into lockdown because of an epidemic. Traffic was interrupted, markets were closed, residential communities went under tight management, and citizens were isolated at home. Under such circumstances, how was the supply of basic living materials ensured? The answer lied in the work of grassroots community organizations, which helped people to purchase food, water, and other necessities, and contributed to maintaining social order and stability. It was achieved through the mobilization of Party members, cadres, and volunteers. Grassroots community organizations have exemplified great energy in China’s social governance.

2020年3月10日，习近平来到武汉市东湖新城社区东湖庭园小区视察，与社区工作者和志愿者座谈。一个多月以来，社区工作者上门入户服务居民，为孤寡老人和残疾人士义务配送爱心物资，还负责居民需求的上传下达和心理疏导。专职社区工作者人手不足，志愿者、党员、市区政府机关企事业单位的下沉干部就一起来当帮手，他们科学分配工作、明晰各自职责，在大家的共同努力下，这个小区的确诊病例停留在32例，获得了“无疫情小区”称号。

On March 10, 2020, during his inspection tour to Wuhan, President Xi visited a residential community and met with its grassroots workers and volunteers, and praised them for their hard work and contributions. For more than a month, the community workers and volunteers had tirelessly provided door-to-door services, helping the residents to deal with life problems and offering them psychological counseling. To deal with the shortage of full-time community workers, volunteers, Party members, and cadres of many other government departments, enterprises, and institutions were mobilized to lend a helping hand. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the number of confirmed cases in this community remained at 32, and the disease saw no further transmission.

中国防控新冠肺炎疫情的另一项宝贵经验是建立方舱医院，目的是接收轻症确诊患者，将已确诊患者与未感染人群隔离开。疫情期间，湖北省武汉市共建成11家方舱医院，提供了1万张床位。这些由活动“房子”建成的“临时社区”，就像是一个个大家庭，医护人员不仅将轻症患者组织起来共同参与方舱内的治疗、管理，还带着患者一起跳广场舞、开生日party，既治疗病痛又温暖人心。

Another valuable experience in China’s prevention and control of COVID-19 was the establishment of temporary treatment centers (including mobile cabin hospitals and makeshift hospitals) to receive confirmed patients with mild symptoms and separate them from uninfected people. During the epidemic, 11 temporary treatment centers were built in Wuhan, providing a total of about 10,000 beds. These temporary communities built by mobile cabins became big families for patients. Within the temporary treatment centers, patients with mild symptoms participated in the treatment of other patients and the management of the centers. Medical staff held birthday parties for the patients and even led them in square dancing activities. Those efforts were not only effective in curing the disease but also in warming the hearts.

中国领导人习近平认为，社会治理是一门科学，管得太死，一潭死水不行；管得太松，波涛汹涌也不行。要讲究辩证法，处理好活力和秩序的关系。可以说，这是对中国社会治理传统的继承和发扬。中华法系的一大特征是鼓励基层自治政权发挥司法作用，因而中国社会传统里并无报官兴讼之风。比起花大代价去追求精确符合国法条文的“正义”，中国人获得公正的效率高很多，成本低很多。正如北京大学国际关系学院潘维教授所言，律师比医生多，并不代表更先进。这也是为什么改革开放以来，中国不仅取得了显而易见的经济发展成就，也在社会治理领域独具特色的原因。

Social governance must be carried out scientifically, President Xi said. To stimulate vitality and maintain order, a state of balance must be maintained, since either being too tight or too loose would cause harmful results in social governance. It can be said that this is the inheritance and development of the tradition of Chinese social governance. One of the major features of the Chinese legal system is to encourage autonomous grassroots bodies to play a judicial role, as the Chinese people traditionally did not prefer reporting crimes to governments at higher levels or filing lawsuits against others. Rather than taking on huge costs to pursue the kinds of “justice” that strictly conform to each letter of the law, the Chinese people choose to obtain justice in a much more efficient and low-cost manner. As Prof. Pan Wei at the School of International Relations at Peking University said, just because there are more lawyers than doctors in America does not mean the American society is more advanced. This is also the reason why, since the reform and opening up, China has not only made remarkable achievements in economic development, but also gained unique accomplishments in the field of social governance.