Student participation in government decision-making

The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people. —Abraham Lincoln

 

Student participation in government decision-making

High school students in Changning can participate in major decision-making of the district government. Student representatives interacted with district government over major administrative decision-making on December 2 when a theme activity was held in Tianshan School affiliated to East China Normal University.

The school organized students to carry out interdisciplinary learning of “new energy vehicles and environmental protection.” Xiong Zhentian, Chen Xinyu, Jiang Xiyu, Yang Yunyi, Zhang Yifan and other five students from class 2 of grade 12 worked out the “suggestions on improving the popularity of new energy vehicle charging piles,” which was valued by the district government.

After receiving the suggestions from the students, government agencies discussed and carefully studied the suggestions put forward by the students. After that, the Changning District Urban Renewal and Low Carbon Project Management Center replied to the students.

Mao Qin, director of the center, combined his work experience and social reality, explained the knowledge of new energy to students in simple terms, so that students learned that the government and the market have been working hard to improve the penetration rate of new energy car charging piles, and also made some innovative exploration and achieved some results.

Zhang Hongbing, chairman of the Social Committee of the People’s Congress of Changning District, sent a letter to Tianshan School, thanking the teachers and students of the school for actively participating in urban construction and development, providing advice for the government’s projects, and participating in the practice of rule of law education, providing advice and suggestions for major administrative decision-making of the district government.

Huo Xuanye, legal instructor of the District Government's Legal Affairs Division, told the students in detail about the process and ways for citizens to participate in major administrative decisions, and welcomed the students to continue to actively pay attention to and participate in the implementation of major administrative decisions in the district government’s projects, so as to provide advice and suggestions for urban development.

Students’ participation in major administrative decision-making is an important step for Changning District to promote major administrative decision-making and become a new brand name for building a rule of law government. 

Previously, high school students in Changning had been invited to attend the executive meeting of the district government as public representatives in the collective deliberation of decision-making matters.

 

From Zhejiang to join business

Businessmen from neighboring Zhejiang Province visited East Hongqiao on November 27 as one of the latest efforts to further deepen the exchange and cooperation between Changning District and Shanghai Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, and promote the integration and development of new Zhejiang merchants and new economy.

Ji Xiaopeng, deputy Party secretary of Changning, said in his speech that the gathering of outstanding young talent from Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce and the youth federations of the two sides to talk about development is an important practice to implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and help promote the high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region. 

It is expected that the two sides will strengthen cooperation, seize development opportunities, make good use of national policies, strengthen institutional innovation, further realize a high degree of connection between the capital, management, technology of Zhejiang enterprises and Changning’s resource advantages through the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, cooperate in key areas for win-win results, and attract more outstanding young people to take root in Changning, Ji said.

The Yong Entrepreneurs Association of Shanghai Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum of business partnership with Administrative Office of the East Hongqiao, while the Youth League of Shanghai Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum of joint construction with the Youth League of Changning District.

 

Tasks to beautify district

Focusing on public seats, night lights, water environment, beautiful streets, digital governance and other fields, Changning Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau launched 10 special actions on November 29.

On the occasion of the implementation of the amended Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Administration of City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation, Changning will focus on the requirements of refined governance of greenery and public sanitation and make every effort to increase green space, promote going green, openness and sharing, improve the quality of the ecological environment, according to the bureau.

 

‘Silicon Alley’ to improve community mass innovation and entrepreneurship

Surrounded by Jiangsu Road in the east, Yan’an Road W. in the south, Kaixuan Road in the west, Changning Road and Yuyuan Road in the north, and Wuyi Road and Dingxi Road in the center, the planned “Shanghai Silicon Alley” will be presented in the layout of two-by-two grids and built into a one-stop mass entrepreneurship and innovation neighborhood.

In the planned area are Shanghai Institute of Ceramics and Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and a number of heavy weight sci-tech firms.

The future “Shanghai Silicon Alley” will be a combination of urban renewal and sci-tech innovation, a maker space and community college of mass entrepreneurship and innovation, according to the plan.

The future “Shanghai Silicon Lane” will become a high-end scientific and technological achievements transformation service platform in combination with the regional economic development requirements of Changning, and accelerate the continuous transformation and implementation of innovative achievements. 

The “Shanghai Silicon Alley” will also be a key step to consolidate the scientific and technological innovation ecosystem, strengthen the dominant position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, give play to the leading and supporting role of the Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, create a good environment conducive to the growth of technology-based SMEs, promote the deep integration and continuous gathering of innovation chain, industry chain, capital chain and talent chain, and let more scientific and technological enterprises take root and develop here, according to the plan.

 

Expats’ advices to build a multilingual environment

On November 29, the Municipal People’s Congress held a legislative research forum on the construction of the language environment for international exchanges in Shanghai.

Ashish Maskay and Nusrat Marat, members of the “Hongqiao Friendship Alliance” of Changning District, were invited to attend and make speeches.

Maskay said that at present, online platforms are generally handled through “mobile terminals,” lacking multilingual guidance. In addition, many login systems need to register through ID card numbers, and cannot register through passport numbers, which makes it difficult for many foreigners to obtain online services. 

In addition, when registering on some online platforms, the name input format is limited, and the characters of foreigners’ names are too long to be input completely.

Marat said that over the years, Shanghai has made great progress in improving its foreign language environment, and the current urban public transport network also reports stops in both Chinese and English. 

With regard to the logo of Shanghai Metro, Marat suggested that as there are many exits of the subway, it is hoped that the logo can be made in the platform transfer route, such as providing the label of “I am here,” so that foreigners can view and pass easily.

 

 

Edited by Shanghai Daily