In China's socialist market economy, "Communities" are taking over "Work Units" as the new focus of support for the citizen.

When Dong Xianyi was laid off from work, he not only continued to be paid part of his salary from his former company, but also received a minimum living allowance from his Mingze Street Community in Zhongshan District of Dalian City.

Dong's Community is only one of many now emerging in China. The help they offer ranges from low-income support to services for those with handicaps. Support can be lifelong, starting with care in childbirth, moving on to assistance with parenting and extending through to arrangements in retirement. A help centre has been established in Mingze Street Community with a telephone hotline to dispatch assistance to where it is required.

In the old days, when the planned economy dominated China's economic system, urban citizens relied totally on their working units. They not only provided a place to work but could also be a source of finance, they would enrol children to kindergarten, provide for retirement and so on.

However, in recent years, the establishment of the socialist market economy has begun to change this once familiar pattern. The relationship between the work unit and its personnel is now moving towards that of a simple contract of employment. Help outside of work is now more likely to be sought and found in the Community.

According to some Chinese scholars, a Community may be best defined as a "jurisdiction established under a neighbourhood committee." A typical Community will serve 1,500 households of citizens. Starting from scratch in the 1980s China now has more than 110,000 City Communities. All this has been made possible by and realised in the context of China's new booming economy.

From community service to community culture, from public security to medical care, more and more people today feel a real sense of belonging to their Community.

Li Lin, 39, suffers from anal cancer. His wife left him and their 8-year-old daughter. It was the ladies of the neighbourhood committee who applied on his behalf for the minimum living allowance when he faced major surgery. They secured a tuition fee waiver for his daughter and helped clean his house.

Nowadays the Community is becoming indispensable for some people with special needs and is a welcome source of support to the ordinary urban citizen. According to Bai who is involved with a newly established housekeeping service known as "Little Helper," many residents came to the centre to look for a housekeeper or odd-job man paid on hourly rates. Others seek advice on renting a house or in their business affairs.

Professor Liu Zhongquan, guest director with the Research Committee on Chinese Cities' Development, sees every Community as an extension of the family. He considers that the Communities are now entering a new phase of development.

As far as he is concerned, the old management system in which all the residents belong to a single fixed organisation is breaking down. This is against the background of a flood of people migrating from the countryside to the cities. Greater mobility within this floating population when taken together with an increasing age profile points to the need for a new system.

Promoting the development of Communities has become an important facet of 21st century development of China's modern cities. Cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shijiangzhuang and Dalian are actively seeking to develop new civic systems at grass roots level. There has been a gradual acceptance of a move towards smaller scale solutions.

In the southern city of Guangzhou, the street residential committee is evolving into the neighbourhood committee formed through direct democratic election.

According to Wang Sibin, professor with the Sociology Department of Peking University, there is a big difference between the new Community developments and what happened before. Previous activities were part of the function of government and required central organisation and planning. Today the goal is to build up a comparatively independent local Community with its own smooth and stable operation.

In the Chinese cities, Community development follows the pattern of "small government, big society." It seeks to promote activities that will serve the people and manage society at the same time.

Clearly there is still a long way to go in the development of Chinese Communities and improvements in social service. Significant imbalances still exist between different Communities and the social welfare system is lagging behind. In addition, the need to provide training for members of Community teams remains an issue to be addressed.

"There is no doubt that the development of China's Communities is still at an early stage," said Liu Zhongquan. "Long-term success will largely depend on the full and active participation of citizens in their Communities".

(china.org.cn by Feng Shu, July 1, 2002)