On the morning of April 10, the foreign language desk at the 12345 Beijing Citizen Hotline Service Center received a special call. "I'm a tourist from Brazil, and my luggage has been left at the airport. What should I do?", said the caller spoke in Portuguese. Immediately, the operator sought assistance from the staff at the Multilingual Service Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). Through the three-way call, the situation and needs of the caller were relayed to the operator in real-time, who promptly recorded the information and began handling the affair.

Laughter, applause, and appreciation:

Brazilian delegation’s firsthand experience of 12345 hotline

This is what happened at the 12345 Beijing Citizen Hotline Service Center. It turned out that the caller on the other end of the phone was Ricardo Campos, a member of the delegation of the Workers' Party of Brazil (PT) and the State Deputy of Minas Gerais.

On the morning of April 10, the 27 members of the PT delegation, who were invited to visit China, visited the 12345 Beijing Citizen Hotline Service Center.

The first stop was the big data analysis platform on the first floor, where the delegation learned about the center’s founding mission and development. With the topic of “Implementing the people-centered development philosophy of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the local level” and from the perspective of showcasing how the Party and government serve the people, the official from the center introduced the fourfold roles of the 12345 hotline. The first is to serve as a "heart-to-heart bridge" for Party committees and governments to reach out to the people; the second is to be a "barometer" reflecting societal and public conditions; the third is to be "customer service center" for urban operations; and the forth is to form a "database" recording and analyzing people’s needs. Upon seeing the real-time updates of over 10,000 consultation cases scrolling on the big screen of the big data analysis platform, with an average of 60,000 to 70,000 cases handled daily, the visitors expressed their surprise and appreciation.

In the call center on the ninth floor, after observing the busy but orderly work of the operators on duty, Campos wanted to try calling the hotline himself. He dialed 12345 on his phone and thus, the scene described at the beginning of this article occurred.

Beijing's 12345 hotline services are available 24/7 in 8 languages, which can help address the obstacles and difficulties foreigners encounter in work and life, thereby facilitating their stay in Beijing and improving their overall experience.

Medical services, raising dogs, and smoking bans:

Common issues faced by modern metropolises

During the discussion session, members of the delegation eagerly raised questions about urban governance. They inquired about the topics that are covered by  12345 calls, the method to evaluate satisfaction, and whether other cities in China employ similar mechanisms. Additionally, they were concerned about specific issues related to individual rights and interests, such as to which department the issues concerning public health and public order would be referred, as well as daily issues including how to address disputes concerning walking dogs without leashes in the neighborhood or smoking in the apartment’s public areas.

Delegation member Miguel Ângelo, State Deputy of Minas Gerais and Member of the National Committee of the PT, showed a particular interest in the healthcare sector. He expressed his willingness to deepen exchanges with Chinese counterparts and jointly explore paths to modernization while his country is implementing the More Doctors program to improve medical services.

Chinese philosophy, Chinese experience, and Chinese achievements:

People-centered philosophy embodied in the hotline

During the visit, the official from the center explained that 12345 hotline serves as a bond that closely connects the Party and the government with the people, ensuring that every issue can be promptly handled by an operator at any time, with feedback provided for every inquiry. Moreover, the satisfaction rate is included in the annual assessments of Party secretaries and governments’ performance. When it was revealed that in 2023 alone, the 12345 hotline handled a staggering 21.438 million cases, with the resolution rate and satisfaction rate reaching 94.3% and 95.2% respectively, thunderous applause erupted in the hall.

Miguel Ângelo remarked that such a high satisfaction rate indicates that the opinions of citizens are being fully respected and effectively addressed, demonstrating the efficiency of the CPC in modernizing its national governance system and governance capacity.

Maria Nogueira, Member of the National Committee of the PT and Vice Mayor of Santana in Amapá, stated that 12345 hotline serves as an effective channel for the CPC to connect with the people, and these practices and experiences are worthy of study.

Romenio Pereira, Member of the National Executive Committee and Secretary for International Relations of the PT, said the fact that the operation and maintenance of such a large hotline center are all under the leadership of the CPC demonstrates the unique political and organizational advantages of China, and is a blessing for the Chinese people.

At the end of the visit, the delegation head Gleisi Hoffmann, President of the PT, praised the 12345 hotline as a platform that integrates diverse resources and strengths, and demonstrates the CPC's people-centered philosophy and the principle of serving the people wholeheartedly, which is truly admirable. She added that the PT also encounters significant challenges in improving people's livelihoods and alleviating poverty, so it is necessary for PT to take cues from the CPC’s practices and chart its own path towards modernization.

(Edited from the news of WeChat Official Account of the Press Office of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee)