Documentary proof of civic hotline's success

Beijing is among the most populated metropolises, with a population of 21.85 million by the end of 2023, which makes grassroots governance difficult. For better management, the municipality has established a 24/7 hotline, with an easy-to-remember number, 12345, that residents can call to voice their grievances. The hotline responders are patient with people's complaints and issues, offering practical help by zeroing in on some responsible government department or public agency that can attend to their problems.

The work the hotline does has been shown in greater detail in Hotline Beijing, a documentary that hit screens on Feb 18. It tells the true stories of those working at the other end of the line from the complainants. Thanks to their patience and perseverance, the residents of Beijing are able to lodge complaints with the authorities any time of the day by just picking up the phone.

The documentary tells seven stories, all based on real incidents, ranging from missing parking lots in a hutong to the need to install elevators in old buildings so that senior citizens living on the upper floors of old buildings do not face any problems reaching their apartments.

That's the philosophy behind installing the hotline, to help address the problems faced by people living in this city, to ensure that every individual's grievances are attended to properly. The interactive relationship between citizens calling the authorities for help and a representative government agency responding in time is the best example of good governance. Not surprisingly, this movie documenting the lives and times of those attending to people's grievances, is in itself a success story. It had generated 76.33 million yuan ($10.52 million) in revenue through ticket sales as of Sunday.