Well-governed villages bring peace and security to residents. Since the beginning of this year, Shaluopo Town, Yangxin County, has based its efforts on the realities of grassroots governance and innovatively developed a full-chain “Three Lines of Defense” governance system featuring source prevention, proactive investigation and substantive resolution. The initiative continues to enhance residents’ sense of gain, happiness and security.

Using Village Regulations as the Starting Point to Build the “First Line of Defense” for Source Prevention

Shaluopo Town has focused on making village regulations more detailed and practical. During the revision process, the town has strictly implemented the relevant requirements of the Yangxin County Party Committee on firmly following the Party’s mass line in the new era. A revision team composed of retired cadres, veteran Party members and villager representatives was carefully selected and established. Through household visits and “small stool discussion meetings,” the team widely gathered public opinions, reducing the root causes of conflicts and allowing residents to experience a sense of “peace of mind” through joint participation and shared governance.

Village regulations must both reflect local realities and comply with legal principles. Shaluopo Town has encouraged professional forces, including judicial offices and legal advisors, to participate throughout the revision and review process, ensuring that the regulations are lawful, procedures are compliant and implementation is supported by clear evidence. At the same time, the town has established a regular review mechanism for village regulations, enabling dynamic adjustments and updates while strengthening the legal foundation of grassroots self-governance.
Village regulations not only define behavioural boundaries but also promote new standards of civility. Shaluopo Town has incorporated values such as farmland protection, changing traditional customs, respecting and caring for the elderly, and maintaining neighbourly harmony into the regulations, allowing “peace of mind” to be nurtured through moral governance. Since the revised village regulations were implemented, neighbourhood disputes have decreased significantly.

Using Cadres’ Deployment to Villages as the Key Measure to Strengthen the “Second Line of Defense” for Proactive Investigation

The key to resolving conflicts lies in addressing them early and at a small scale. Shaluopo Town has improved its regular mechanism for cadres’ deployment to villages, revised and enhanced the “Responsibility List for Village-Assigned Cadres of Shaluopo Town,” and strictly implemented a regular “one round every two weeks” inspection and visit mechanism, ensuring that residents can always find someone to speak with, communicate their concerns and receive assistance.

During visits and investigations, Shaluopo Town focuses on key areas such as neighbourhood disputes, land ownership issues and public livelihood demands. It has established a full-chain closed-loop mechanism covering “investigation registration, classified filing, record management and case completion.” Village-assigned cadres conduct household-by-household investigations and register issues individually. Problems that can be resolved on site are coordinated and settled immediately. For issues requiring collaboration among multiple departments, classified records are created with clearly assigned responsibilities and deadlines. Cases are managed through a cancellation system and followed up individually to ensure every matter receives a response and every concern has a resolution.

In addition, village-assigned cadres regularly participate in village-level themed Party activities and guide villages in carrying out standardized “Three Affairs Direct Communication Meetings.” During these meetings, village Party committees and village committees report on the implementation of Party affairs, village affairs and financial affairs, as well as future work plans. Party members and residents are encouraged to offer suggestions, participate in discussions and provide supervision and evaluation, effectively safeguarding residents’ rights to know, participate and supervise. With village affairs becoming more open and transparent, residents feel more assured and informed.

Focusing on Source Governance to Strengthen the “Third Line of Defense” for Substantive Resolution

For complex conflicts and longstanding issues, Shaluopo Town has established a joint petition and complaint coordination mechanism. Led by the town’s principal Party and government officials, the mechanism integrates resources from petition offices, discipline inspection, comprehensive social governance, judicial departments, police stations, law firms and other functional bodies. Regular weekly analysis and coordination meetings are held, with issues handled according to risk levels to ensure accurate control and timely resolution of conflict risks.

In the handling of government service hotline cases, the town has implemented a dedicated responsibility system led by deputy section-level cadres. It fully promotes a working model of “immediate response upon receiving complaints, dedicated personnel follow-up, full-process supervision and closed-loop return visits.” Strict standards are applied throughout the entire process, including work order acceptance, verification and handling, response feedback and resident follow-up, ensuring that every public request receives a response and every issue is properly addressed.

From source prevention through village regulations, to proactive investigation through cadres’ deployment, and finally to substantive resolution through joint petition mechanisms, Shaluopo Town has created a comprehensive “security network” for grassroots governance through the “Three Lines of Defense.” A set of figures demonstrates the effectiveness: the occurrence rate of satellite image inspection issues in pilot villages has decreased by 10% year-on-year, the number of cases received through the “12345” hotline has dropped by 34% year-on-year, and five pilot villages have achieved “zero outstanding hotline cases.” Behind these figures is a vivid reflection of how the concept of building a “City of Peace of Mind” is moving from vision into practical implementation.