People living in a central Beijing residential area cast their votes on Saturday in the first ever democratic multi-candidate election of a local community chief and officials.

More than 2,700 residents from 1,145 households in the Jiudaowan Community of Beijing's Dongcheng District gathered at a nearby school playground early Saturday morning to elect a new director of the neighborhood committee and also deputies to the community congress, both self-governing bodies for Chinese citizens.

Neighborhood committees in cities have similar roles and functions to the village committees in China's vast rural areas. However, while the government has exerted efforts to promote free and direct village elections in the past dozen years, some representatives of residents usually conducted the election of urban community officials.

Officials with the Dongcheng District Civil Affairs Department said that Jiudaowan was selected as a trial area before the adoption of such elections citywide.

The 120-strong migrant population in the community also participated in the election. Two migrant residents were candidates for the community congress deputyship and 74 people who are more than 18 years old and have resided in Jiudaowan for more than one year were given voting rights.

"I was surprised and honored. Beijing people really don't regard us as outsiders," said 33-year-old Liu Guijiao from Central China's Henan Province, after winning a seat in the election.

Liu has been running a grocery store in the community for nine years, and her husband and mother both cast their votes on Saturday.

(China Daily August 19, 2002)