Beijing Women's Federation

Shen Yueyue Inspects Work in Beijing, Stresses Family's Role in Grassroots Governance

President of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) Shen Yueyue visited communities in both urban and rural areas of Beijing on September 17 and 18, to inspect work on implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions on promotion of proper family education and good family traditions, to help improve women's federations' family-related work and highlight the importance of family-related work in grassroots governance. Noting that family-related work is women's federations' important task as assigned by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and family-related work should be enhanced closely around better serving the country's key tasks and serving women, Shen demanded federations to have the "Four Consciousnesses", bolster the "Four Matters of Confidence" (confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics) and uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's position as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party, as well as the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership. She also stressed that Party building should guide women's federations' work and institutional, regular and targeted efforts should be made for family-related work. Shen was accompanied on the trip by Zhang Xiaolan, Vice-President and Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF; Wei Xiaodong, Member of the Standing Committee and Director of the Organization Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC; Hou Junshu, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress; and Cheng Hong, Vice-Chairperson of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice-President (Part-time) of the ACWF. Liu Yamei, Director of the Publicity Department of the ACWF, Li Biyou, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, and Zhang Yajun, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and President of Beijing Women's Federation (BWF), were also present.

Shen Yueyue Inspects Work in Beijing, Stresses Family's Role in Grassroots Governance

Shijiaying Village, in Mapo Town in Beijing's' suburban Shunyi District, has facilitated all the families to participate in grassroots governance, taking improvements of local environment as a starting point. On September 17, Shen visited Hu Yufen's home in Shijiaying, where three generations live in one household and have a good family tradition. Shen spoke of the role of good family relationships in upholding a social governance system based on collaboration, participation and common interests, which is deemed the fulcrum of rural civilization and social harmony. Shen also toured a Children's Home in the village. She chatted with some parents there about their difficulties in educating children and the ways to obtain knowledge about family education. She declared that the knowing precisely about the needs of families and clarifying the focus of family education guidance services would help promote useful education concepts and help solve specific problems. It would also help offer targeted care and assistance to different types of needy families.

While visiting the Heqingyuan Community in Haidian District, which was selected as a national family education innovation base, Shen listened to representatives of parents, primary school principals, primary-level Party cadres and representatives of social organization at a meeting pertaining to collaborative educational models. She said that families, schools and the wider society have the same goal of fostering a new generation of young people capable of shouldering the mission of national rejuvenation. Shen called for efforts in terms of fostering virtue, carrying on the spirit of fighting COVID-19 and helping children foster deep love for their country. She also stressed the leading role of the family education innovation practice base in exploring a collaborative educational model that can be widely promoted through innovative methods, summary of experiences and resolving crucial issues.

In the Suzhouqiaoxi Community in Haidian District, local residents enjoy jointly managed parking, garbage sorting, and idle goods-sharing with the guidance of the Party and help from women's federations. Some families are organized to offer services such as hairdressing, and birthdays and festival celebrations to the elderly. Shen lauded the fact that the community has truly achieved the goal of serving the people in need — for the people and by the people — and have improved the ability to function autonomously, which ultimately benefit all its residents.

Shen Yueyue Inspects Work in Beijing, Stresses Family's Role in Grassroots Governance

On September 18, Shen held a talk with cadres from the Beijing Women's Federation (BWF) and grassroots Party organizations and some educators in Donghu Sub-district Residents Service Center in Chaoyang District. Wei Xiaodong presided over the meeting. At the meeting, Zhang Yajun, President of BWF, Zeng Xiangzheng, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Tongyun Sub-district in Tongzhou District, Wang Fuying, Party Branch Secretary and President of the Women's Federation of Nanzhaizhuanghu Village in Pinggu District, Wu Shen, Director of Beijing Guangqumen Middle School Education Group, reported from different levels and angles on Beijing's current practices and review regarding family-related work.

Shen Yueyue Inspects Work in Beijing, Stresses Family's Role in Grassroots Governance

Wei outlined several aspects of grassroots governance, including overall direction, working mechanisms, key work, innovative methods and emphasis on the Party's guidance. He said that Beijing's achievements in women's development cannot be separated from the guidance and help of the ACWF. Focusing on the key work of the city, the BWF has explored the incorporation of family-, family education- and family tradition-related work into the basic governance structure of the capital and united women in the major test of fighting the COVID-19 epidemic as well as property management, garbage sorting and promotion of the level of civic-mindedness. The ACWF's investigation has strengthened confidence and determination to integrate the family work into grassroots governance.

The BWF won recognition from Shen for their innovative family-related work. Shen stressed unremitting efforts in family-related work with guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions. She urged federations to deepen understanding, enhance sense of responsibility to improve work on promoting family education and family tradition, and take the core socialist values as the command, in response to families' needs and expectations.

Shen Yueyue Inspects Work in Beijing, Stresses Family's Role in Grassroots Governance

During the discussion, Shen declared the need to adhere to the guidance of the Party building and give full play to the important role of families, family education and family tradition in grassroots governance. According to Shen, it is necessary to promote the integration of family-related work into the organizational structures, work mechanisms, guarantee measures and mass participation platforms of grassroots social governance, by summarizing experience in epidemic prevention, and focusing on grassroots Party organizations' construction of public services, community-level self-governance and social co-governance.

She noted that family education is of general concern to the public, and it is necessary in terms of fostering virtue, and to cultivate children to have good thoughts, deeds and habits, and implant the core socialist values in their hearts. Efforts should be made to strengthen parents' key role in family education, and promote the collaborative education of children through the joint efforts of families, schools and society. Shen suggested providing clear, targeted and effective family education guidance through age-matched guidebooks, instructors, parent schools, service providers and role models, in order to realize the continuous innovative development of family work and promote families' fundamental role in the grassroots governance model which combines self-governance, rule of law and rule of virtue.

Jin Qingping, Deputy Director of the Department of Family and Children's Affairs of the ACWF, Wei Jiang and Zhao Hongwei, Vice President of the BWF, Xiao Dan, Inspector of the Organization Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, Feng Hongrong, Inspector of the Beijing Education Committee, Zhao Xuegang, Member of Social Work Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC and Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs and Chen Xu, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University attended the meeting. Attendees also included Director of the Standing Committee of the Haidian District People’s Congress Liu Changli, Deputy Secretary of the Haidian District Committee of the CPC Zhang Qiang, Deputy Secretary of the Chaoyang District Committee of the CPC and Chaoyang District Mayor Wen Xian, Director of the Standing Committee of Chaoyang District People’s Congress Chen Hongzhi, Deputy Mayor of Chaoyang District Wang Zhimian, Vice-Party Secretary of the Shunyi District Committee of the CPC Zhang Liang and Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Shunyi District People's Congress Wu Jianguo.