The budget roundtable has been operating for six years, and has greatly enhanced the deputies' level of participation in administrative affairs. Their speeches are more to the point, and many of them keep previous years' draft budgets to compare with the current one.

    "The expenditure line 'for supporting development and management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)' appeared in last year's draft and again this year. What does such support cover?" asked Yan Weijun, a town deputy. Ying Wenming, deputy chief of the town in charge of economic construction, answered: "Mainly on industrial park construction, including land acquisition, building roads and bridges." The questioner was quick to follow up: "Our town has many SMEs and does need this kind of funding. I suggest the departments concerned work out a schedule and increase efficiency so that we can kick off projects as soon as possible and derive the benefits sooner."

    Chen Xingwang, a 53-year-old farmer deputy, was keen to have his say: "The number of cars in Xinhe has been increasing quickly, and traffic jams have become common at some road junctions. I suggest the government puts more money into road infrastructure, and installs traffic lights at main junctions." Dai Ruixu, another deputy town chief, agreed: "You make a good point! Our roads infrastructure hasn't kept pace with current needs, so it's vital to improve it, in particular installing lights at intersections."

Respect for the Deputies' Proposals

    At 8 am on February 14, the deputies were handed a new draft of the 2011 budget of Xinhe Town, amended overnight by the town's leaders. "The amended version respects deputies' proposals and takes them on board," rejoiced Cai Gendi.

    The amended draft showed that most of the roundtable proposals had been adopted: the Skynet Project budget was increased to RMB 500,000; an additional 1.1 million was allocated to road construction, in particular for alleviating traffic congestion in the old section of the town; budgets for training female leaders of social organizations and health checkups for women over 40 increased from RMB 30,000 to 130,000. By contrast, budgets for meetings and government receptions were cut from RMB 2 million to 1.8 million, and the budget for Party publicity and related activities was reduced by RMB 100,000.

    Even so, the revised draft was not greeted with unanimous rapture. Some deputies thought it didn't go far enough and that more discussion was needed, and many still wanted to make a point.

    According to the law, five deputies or more can propose an amendment to the draft budget if they disagree with the town government. They have the right to reduce or increase the amount for any project, or veto a project completely.

    Mo Hailiang and nine other deputies proposed a motion to increase environmental protection spending by RMB 300,000 to build trash depots and update the dustbins. Heated debate ensued.

    "I second the motion," said Deputy Chen Fanggen, taking up the argument. "And I have two suggestions. First, we should give very careful consideration to the location of the trash depots, so that they make life easier for people without spoiling things for residents nearby the facilities. Second, does the construction of more trash transfer stations help solve our garbage problems?"

    Against the proposal was Zhao Jianhua, a deputy from Jinsheng Village, "I think trash depots should be paid for by the villages. There are so many projects for the town government. We should use limited money wisely." The bill was finally approved with 63 votes in favor, 26 against and eight abstentions. Of the 294 participants in this roundtable meeting, 97 were deputies with voting rights, the other 197 being observers with the right to speak but not to cast a vote.

    In fact not every proposal gets passed. In 2008 two deputies brought in two bills: one was to replace old stone-slab roads in villages, the other to increase spending on transformation of old districts of the town. The strength of opposition meant that neither was approved.

    "You can't look at things too parochially. You should concentrate on issues of wide concern to ordinary people," opined a vehement Mo Hailiang.

    Invigorating the Supervisory Function

    When Wenling City decided to merge the democratic roundtable concept with the grassroots people's congress system, they decided to start with the review of the local government budget. Chen Yimin, vice director of Wenling Democratic Roundtable Office, was among the initiators and planners of this reform.

    In 1999 Chen Yimin was in charge of a Wenling training project on agricultural and rural modernization. He went to the Party secretary of Songmen Town to see whether they could hold a press-conference-style meeting in which officials would answer people's questions face to face, resolving their problems there and then if possible and, if not, put forward a plan and deadline for doing so. Over 200 residents attended the first session. They brought up all kinds of issues, from macro issues such as the investment environment and plan for construction to detailed questions on the gas price and neighbor disputes. Songmen held four similar meetings that year.