Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 13. Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinion Regarding Strengthening the Construction of a Societal Security Prevention and Control System and issued a notice requiring the conscientious implementation of this document by all regions and departments in light of their actual conditions.

The full text of the Opinion Regarding Strengthening the Construction of a Societal Security Prevention and Control System is as follows.

We propose the following opinions in order to effectively respond to prominent problems affecting societal security and stability, innovate a three-dimensional societal security prevention and control system, strictly prevent and punish various illegal and criminal activities in accordance with the law, and comprehensively promote the construction of a peaceful China.

I.  Guiding Ideology and Goals and Tasks for Strengthening the Construction of the Societal Security Prevention and Control System

(i) Guiding ideology. Guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Important Thought of the “Three Represents,” and the Scientific Outlook on Development, we must fully implement the spirit of the Eighteenth Party Congress and the Second, Third and Fourth Plenums of the Eighteenth Central Committee, thoroughly implement the spirit of the important speeches of General Secretary Jinping, focus closely on the overall goals of improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, firmly grasp the general requirements for comprehensively advancing the rule of law, strive to improve the ability to control the societal security situation under dynamic and informatized conditions, take ensuring public safety and improving people’s sense of security and satisfaction as our goal, take prominent public security issues as our orientation, take institutional innovation as our driver, take informatization as our guide, take infrastructure as our support, adhere to systematic governance, governance according to law, comprehensive governance, and governance at the source, and improve the three-dimensional societal security prevention and control system that integrates points into lines and lines into surfaces, online and offline, human, physical, and technological defense, and offense and defense management and control to ensure that the people live and work in peace, social stability, and order and ensure the country’s long-term stability.

(ii) Goals and tasks. Form a work pattern for the construction of a societal security prevention and control system featuring Party committee leadership, government direction, comprehensive governance coordination, joint management by all departments, and active participation by social forces; improve societal security prevention and control operating mechanisms; weave a societal security prevention and control network, improve the level of rule of law, socialization, and informatization of the construction of the societal security prevention and control system; enhance the overall prevention and control capabilities of societal security; strive to effectively curb violent terrorist crimes and crimes of extreme personal violence that affect public safety; effectively prevent multiple cases and public safety accidents that affect the people’s sense of security; significantly increase the people’s sense of security and satisfaction; and make society more harmonious and orderly.

II. Strengthen the Construction of the Societal Security Prevention and Control Network

(iii) Strengthen the construction of the societal security prevention and control network. Based on factors such as population density, public security situation, and geographical location, we must scientifically divide the patrol area, optimize the layout of prevention and control forces, strengthen joint police and armed police patrols, establish sound command and support mechanisms, improve working mechanisms of key duties in densely populated places such as morning and evening peaks, reduce dead zones and blind spots, and improve social dynamic control capabilities. We must strengthen public transportation security work, strengthen human, physical, and technological defense, technical defense construction, and daily management, improve and implement the security inspection system, strengthen the security of key locations such as bus stations, subway stations, airports, railway stations, wharfs, ports, and high-speed rail lines. and strictly prevent extreme cases (incidents) of violent terrorist attacks against public transportation and personal. Improve the safety precaution mechanisms of key places such as kindergartens, schools, financial institutions, commercial establishments, and hospitals, strengthen the comprehensive management of public security in key places and surrounding areas, and ensure good order. We must strengthen the investigation and rectification of remote rural areas, urban-rural junctions, urban villages, and other key societal security areas, key locations, and various prominent societal security issues. We must summarize and promote the experience of counties (cities, districts, and banners) with zero murders and communities with zero crimes, strengthen regular research, promptly discover and deal with the symptomatic problems of homicides and extreme incidents, and prevent and reduce the occurrence of serious cases (incidents), especially homicides.

(iv) Strengthen the construction of the key industry security prevention and control network. We must effectively strengthen the security management of key industries such as the hotel industry, second-hand goods industry, official seal engraving industry, motor vehicle refitting industry, scrap purchase industry, and entertainment service industry, implement legal person responsibility, promote real-name registration, and promote the construction of a security management information system. We must strengthen the security management work for mail, express delivery, and logistics transportation, improve the list of prohibited items, establish a sound security management system, and effectively prevent the use of delivery and logistics channels in criminal activities. We must continue to carry out rectification actions such as the control of explosives and firearms and the management of knives, adopt end-to-end process management measures such as source control, fixed-point sales, flow control, and real-name registration for materials with explosion hazards, and strictly prevent the illegal dispersal of dangerous explosives into society. We must strengthen the service and management work for special groups of people such as those serving sentences of community service, threatening to retaliate against social personnel, people with serious mental disorders such as those who are prone to causing accidents, people released after serving their sentences, drug users, and people who engage in behaviors that put them at risk of HIV. We must improve the care and assistance system of the government, society, and family, increase government funding and support, strengthen the construction of relevant professional social organizations and social work talent teams, and implement education, correction, management, and comprehensive intervention measures.

(v) Strengthen the construction of the township and town (sub-district) and village (neighborhood) security prevention and control network. We must take management by grid and socialized services as our direction, and improve the grassroots integrated service management platforms, and promote the sinking of societal security prevention and control forces to lower levels. We must include management by grid in urban and rural planning, incorporate basic public security elements such as people, places, things, incidents, and organizations into the scope of management by grid, and ensure the satisfactory grasp of information, resolution of contradictions, security prevention and control, and facilitation of services. We must determine management by grid responsibilities according to local conditions, incorporate it into community service work or mass prevention and control management, and strengthen the construction of societal security prevention and control networks through the purchase of services by the government. By 2020, we must achieve full coverage of management by grid in central urban areas of counties (cities, districts, and banners) across the country. We must integrate various resource forces, strengthen the construction of a comprehensive service management platform at the grassroots level, gradually promote the construction of comprehensive management centers in township and towns (sub-districts), have villages (neighborhoods) rely on the grassroots integrated service management platform to establish substantive operation mechanisms, strengthen actual combat functions, and perform joint investigation of conflicts and disputes, joint defense of societal security, joint action on key tasks, joint governance of prominent security issues, joint attention to service management, and joint creation of grassroots peace and security. By 2020, we must achieve full coverage of the three-level comprehensive service management platform of counties (cities, districts, and banners), townships and towns (sub-districts), and villages (neighborhoods) and encourage completion ahead of schedule if conditions permit. We must deepen the community policing strategy and strengthen the construction of neighborhood (village) police offices. We must incorporate the resolution of contradictions and dispute mediation for joint security defense into the pilot tasks of rural community construction.

(vi) Strengthen the construction of internal security prevention and control networks in government agencies, enterprises, and institutions. In accordance with the principles of prevention first, highlighting key points, unit responsibility, and government supervision, we must further strengthen the internal security work of agencies, enterprises, and institutions, strictly implement the security responsibility system for the people in charge of units, improve patrol inspection, guard protection, safeguarding of vital areas, troubleshooting of security hidden dangers and problems, and other security protection systems. We must strengthen the construction of internal technical defense facilities, popularize the application of video surveillance systems, and implement full coverage of important points and points prone to crimes. We must strengthen the safety precautions for water supply, power supply, gas supply, heat supply, fuel supply, transportation, information and communication networks, and other infrastructure related to the national economy and people’s livelihoods, comprehensively improve and implement various security protection measures, and ensure safety and stability.

(vii) Strengthen the construction of information network prevention and control networks. We must build an information network management system that integrates legal regulations, administrative supervision, industry self-discipline, technical support, public supervision, and social education. We must strengthen network security protection and implement the legal responsibilities of relevant entities. We must implement a real-name system for mobile phone and internet users. We must improve the information security classified protection system and strengthen the protection of citizens’ personal information security. We must carry out in-depth special rectification initiatives and resolutely rectify the use of the internet and mobile phone media to spread violent content, pornography, and other illegal and vulgar information.

III. Raise the Science and Technology Level of Societal Security Prevention and Control System Construction

(viii) Strengthen the interconnection, sharing, and in-depth application of information resources. Based on the idea of science and technology (S&T) taking the lead and information providing support, we must accelerate the construction of a comprehensive platform for peace and security construction informatization that is vertically connected, horizontally integrated, shared, safe, and reliable. On the premise of ensuring information security and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, we must increase the degree of system interconnection, information exchange, and resource sharing. We must strengthen the in-depth integration and application of information resources, make full use of modern information technology, and enhance the ability to proactively prevent and combat crime. We must incorporate the informatization of societal security prevention and control into the overall plan of smart city construction, make full use of the new generation of Internet, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing and intelligent sensing, remote sensing, satellite positioning, geographic information systems, and other technologies, innovate in societal security prevention and control methods, raise the level of digitalization, networkization, and intelligentization in public security management, and create a batch of demonstration projects featuring organic integration. We must establish and improve relevant information security guarantee systems, realize three-dimensional and automated security monitoring of resources such as infrastructure, information, and applications, and provide comprehensive and intelligentized security protection for end users and application systems.

(ix) Accelerate the construction of public security video surveillance systems. We must plan from a high starting point, focus on key points, and go step by step to promote the construction, networking, and application of public security video surveillance and improve the coverage density and construction quality of video surveillance systems in public spaces. We must intensify the construction of video surveillance systems in public spaces in urban-rural junctions and rural areas and gradually achieve the integration of urban and rural video surveillance. We must improve technical standards, strengthen system networking, effectively integrate various video image resources at different levels, and gradually broaden the area of application. We must strengthen the construction of security defense technology systems for enterprises and institutions, implement the “Technological Defense in the Home” (技防入户) project and the Internet of Things security defense community pilot, and promote the extension of new technological defense equipment to rural areas.

IV. Refine Societal Security Prevention and Control Operating Mechanisms

(x) Improve the analysis and judgment mechanisms for the societal security situation. The comprehensive political and legal affairs governance institutions must strengthen organization and coordination, work with political and legal agencies and other relevant departments to conduct overall research and judgment and dynamic monitoring of the societal security situation, and make recommendations for supervision. Public security institutions must adhere to the concept of intelligence directing police affairs, establish and improve the analysis and judgment mechanisms for societal security information, and regularly analyze and make judgments on the societal security situation. We must strengthen the analysis and prediction of social public opinion, security trends and hotspots, and sensitive issues, strengthen the research and analysis of key areas in societal security, promptly find problematic signs and tendencies, and improve effective response capabilities. We must establish and improve the security situation reporting and early warning mechanisms and enhance the public’s awareness of self-prevention.

(xi) Improve actual combat command mechanisms. Public security agencies must comply with the requirements of personnel authority, information authority, and responsibility authority, strengthen the construction of actual combat command centers, integrate the functions of 110 police hotline handling, emergency command and disposal of societal security emergencies, and overall coordination of emergency police activities, and promptly and effectively adjust the direction and intensity of the application of police force. We must implement a flattened duty command model, reduce the number of levels in the command structure, smooth out command relationships, implement “point-to-point” command in emergency situations, and ensure nearby dispatch, rapid response, and prompt and proper disposal.

(xii) Improve departmental linkage mechanisms. We must establish and improve systems such as the joint meeting system for the analysis, study, and judgment of the societal security situation and the coordination meeting and monthly reporting system for the investigation and rectification of key areas in societal security, further integrate the resources and forces of various departments, strengthen work linkages, and enhance joint efforts in cracking down on illegal crimes and strengthening societal security prevention and control. For prominent public security issues reported by the people with strong emotions such as illegal guns, pornography, gambling, drugs, telecommunications fraud, illegal acquisition of citizens’ personal information, illegal pyramid schemes, illegal fundraising, endangering food and drug safety, environmental pollution, and cult-related activities, we must strengthen departmental law enforcement cooperation, carry out special crackdowns and rectifications, and form an overall joint force. To combat the weak links and outstanding problems found in the prevention and control work, the comprehensive political and legal affairs governance institutions must take the lead in organizing and urging relevant departments to rectify and reform in a timely manner and must close and prevent loopholes. For unexpected cases (incidents) that may occur, we must develop and improve emergency response plans and action plans, clarify the responsibilities, tasks, and required measures of relevant departments and units, regularly carry out practical emergency drills in emergency response departments, and ensure that once societal security emergencies (incidents) occur, they can be dealt with quickly and effectively. We must innovate alarm service operation modes, improve the ability to quickly deal with emergency situations, and improve the efficiency of non-emergency social linkage services.

(xiii) Improve regional cooperation mechanisms. According to the principles of normalcy, sharing, linkage, and mutual benefit, we must actively build a cross-regional collaboration platform for security prevention and control, jointly deal with outstanding issues in trans-regional security, practice mutual support and assistance, coordination, and linkage in terms of early warning and prevention, stability maintenance, emergency response, resolution of conflicts, and crackdown on crime, and ensure the peace of the country through regional peace We must summarize and promote the experience of building regional police cooperation mechanisms, promote the establishment of a regional cooperation mechanism for security prevention and control involving multiple regions and multiple departments, and enhance the overall effectiveness of prevention and control.

V. Promote the Construction of Societal Security Prevention and Control Systems by Applying the Thinking and Methods of the Rule of Law

(xiv) Use legal means to solve outstanding problems. We must give full play to the guiding, standardizing, guaranteeing, and punitive role of the rule of law so as to resolve social contradictions in accordance with the law, prevent and crack down on crimes in accordance with the law, regulate the social order in accordance with the law, and maintain social stability in accordance with the law. We must focus on the overall need to strengthen the construction of the societal security prevention and control systems and promote the establishment, reform, abolition, and interpretation of relevant laws and regulations, and the formulation and improvement of relevant policies. All localities should be guided by major issues. In response to key and difficult issues in the field of societal security and governance, relevant local laws and regulations and local government rules should be promulgated in a timely manner to promote solutions from the level of the rule of law. We must improve the methods used to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, and other entities and prevent the occurrence of infringement cases at the source. We must adhere to administration according to law, strengthen grassroots law enforcement in key areas such as food and medicine, safe production, environmental protection, cultural markets, and cybersecurity, strengthen the connection between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, and work to solve outstanding problems that the people have reported with strong emotions. Deepen the reform of the judicial system, accelerate the construction of a fair, efficient, and authoritative socialist judicial system, and improve the quality of case handling. We must implement the criminal justice policy of combining leniency and strictness. While severely cracking down on a very small number of serious criminals in accordance with the law, we must minimize social confrontation and strive to turn negative factors into positive factors. We must strengthen and improve propaganda and education for the rule of law, strive to enhance the pertinence and effectiveness of propaganda and education as regards the rule of law, encourage the whole society to establish an awareness of the rule of law, enhance the concept of the rule of law for the whole people, promote all people to respect and abide by the law, guide the cadres and the masses to use the law as the basic norm to guide and regulate their own behavior, and form a good rule of law environment in which the whole society handles affairs according to the law, goes to the law in case of trouble, solve problems using the law, to resolve contradictions by relying on the law.

(xv) Strengthen the construction of basic institutions. We must establish a unified and shared national basic population information database with citizen ID numbers as unique codes and establish and perfect real-name registration systems in relevant areas. We must establish a unified social credit code system for citizens and a unified social credit code system for legal persons and other organizations, strengthen social credit management, promote information sharing, strengthen the encouragement of trustworthy people and the punishment of untrustworthy people, and explore the establishment of an all-in-one card system for all information of citizens. We must implement a societal stability risk assessment system for major decisions, carefully implement assessments and reviews, and work to improve operational procedures such as risk assessment before decision-making, risk management and control during implementation and effect evaluation after implementation, correction after feedback, and accountability for decision-making faults. We must implement a monthly report system of coordination meeting minutes for the investigation and mediation of conflicts and disputes, improve the joint work system of people’s mediation, administrative mediation, and judicial mediation, establish a comprehensive mechanism for mediation and resolution of conflicts and disputes, and work to prevent major mass incidents caused by improper decision-making and delays in the investigation and resolution of conflicts and disputes. We must promote the construction of industry norms, social organization charters, village regulations, and community conventions that reflect the requirements of socialist core values, give full play to the role of social norms in adjusting member relations, constraining member behavior, and protecting member interests, and discipline from oneself, discipline from others, and mutual discipline to have the behavior of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations conform to the common social norms of behavior.

(xvi) Strictly implement the comprehensive leadership responsibility system. We must incorporate the construction of the societal security prevention and control systems into comprehensive governance work (peace and security construction) assessment and evaluation index systems and regard the results of assessment and evaluation as an important part of the assessment and evaluation of the leadership team and leading cadres. We must persist in the adoption of measures such as evaluation, supervision, assessment, incentives, and punishments to form correct incentive guidance and promote the implementation of the construction of the societal security prevention and control systems. For areas and units with prominent societal security problems, we must use regular notifications, interviews, list supervision, and other methods to guide them to analyze the main reasons for the occurrence of major cases (incidents), identify the root causes, research and propose measures to solve the problems, and carry out rectification within a time limit. In areas where serious violations of laws and crimes, serious chaos in public order, or serious and major cases (incidents) due to insufficient attention and failure to implement societal security preventive measures, the one-vote veto system must be implemented in accordance with the law and relevant leading cadres shall be held accountable.

VI. Establish a Sound Work Pattern for Societal Security Prevention and Control System Construction

(xvii) Strengthen the leadership of Party committees and the government in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems. Party committees and governments at all levels should further raise their awareness of the importance of building societal security prevention and control systems, include this in the agenda of important issues, seriously study and resolve important issues such as police force allocation, funding and investment, occupational security for police investigators and other personnel, infrastructure and technological defense facilities, assessment, rewards, and punishments. The construction of societal security prevention and control systems must be included in the overall plan for national economic and social development. We must focus on planning for the establishment of infrastructure, technological defense equipment, and equipment construction, and achieve coordinated progress in urban and rural planning, old town reconstruction, community construction, and grassroots comprehensive service management platform construction. We must increase investment, include the construction of societal security prevention and control systems in the annual fiscal budget, and ensure the smooth implementation of the construction of the societal security prevention and control system in terms of human, material, and financial resources. The primary Party and government comrades responsible in various places are the first responsible persons for the construction of peace and security. They are also the first persons responsible for the construction of societal security prevention and control systems. They must personally engage in study and deployment, understand and implement the work level by level, and truly shoulder the major political responsibility of maintaining the stability of one party and safeguarding the peace and security of the other party. We must give full play to the role of grassroots Party organizations, especially in rural and urban communities. Party organizations must play the role of the core leadership and effectively ensure that the tasks of promoting the construction of societal security prevention and control systems complete the “last mile.”

(xviii) Give full play to the organizing and coordinating role of comprehensive governance organizations. Comprehensive management organizations at all levels must, under the leadership of the Party committee and the government, earnestly organize all relevant units to participate in societal security prevention and control, strengthen investigation and research and supervision and inspection, promptly report and analyze the societal security situation, coordinate and solve the outstanding problems encountered in the work, summarize and promote typical experiences, and coordinate the construction of the societal security prevention and control systems. We must strengthen the self-construction of comprehensive governance organizations at all levels, refine work responsibilities, improve organizational structures, and equip them with powerful forces. The director of the township or town (sub-district) comprehensive governance committee may be the secretary of the township or town (sub-district) Party (work) committee, and the director of the comprehensive governance office can be the deputy secretary of the Party (work) committee. The chief person in charge of the village (neighborhood) comprehensive governance organization can be the secretary of the Party organization, and there must be one clear person in charge of the comprehensive governance work to ensure that this work is grasped and managed by someone.

(xix) Give full play to the functions and roles of political and legal agencies and other relevant departments. We must further clarify the responsibilities and tasks of all relevant departments in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems and ensure that each has its own responsibilities, performs its own duties, cooperates and engages in joint management, and enhances the overall joint force. Political and legal agencies at all levels must play their role as the main force. The public security agencies must give full play to their backbone role. According to the needs of the construction of the societal security prevention and control systems, they must adjust the work focus, police deployment, police assurance and duty system, improve work methods, invest more manpower and energy to strengthen the basic work of grassroots security, promptly grasp situations that affect societal security, and investigate and punish acts that endanger societal security in accordance with the law. The courts and procuratorates must combine arrest, prosecution, and trial judgment work, be adept at discovering loopholes in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems, promptly put forward judicial recommendations and procuratorial recommendations, supervise relevant units to improve rules and regulations, and improve working mechanisms. Judicial administrative organs must strengthen the management of prisons and compulsory isolation and rehabilitation centers, and do a good job in community corrections, placement, assistance, and education of persons released from prison, people’s mediation, rule of law propaganda, legal services, and legal assistance. Other relevant departments should follow the principle of “the one who is in charge is responsible,” combine their own functions, proactively take on the responsibility of preventing illegal crimes and maintaining public order, earnestly grasp the task of participating in the construction of societal security prevention and control system for the relevant department and system, and plan, deploy, inspect, and implement the work together with the department.

(xx) Give full play to the role of social synergy. We must uphold multi-party participation and joint governance under the leadership of the Party committee and the government, give play to the collaborative, interactive, complementary roles of the market, society, and other parties in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems. We must vigorously support the participation of trade unions, the Communist Youth League, the Women’s Federation, and other people’s organizations and mass organizations in the construction of societal security prevention and control system and actively create a favorable environment and conditions for them to play their roles. We must intensify the cultivation and support of industrial and business, science and technology, public welfare and charity, and urban and rural community service social organizations and incorporate societal security prevention and control system construction tasks that are suitable for social organizations to undertake in the areas of contradiction and dispute mediation, special population service management, and prevention of juvenile crimes and violations into the government procurement service catalog. We must use competitive selection and other methods to entrust tasks to relevant social organizations in order to give full play to their important role in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems. We must standardize the management of police auxiliary personnel, clarify their employment conditions and procedures, responsibilities and tasks, guarantees and benefits, and play a good role in helping to maintain public order. We must standardize the development of the security service market and actively guide the security industry to participate in societal security prevention and control work. We must strengthen the construction of urban and rural grassroots mass self-governing organizations, build a new platform for the masses to participate in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems, conduct extensive consultations on the construction of societal security prevention and control systems through various means, gather public opinions, and increase consensus. We must give full play to the self-management and self-discipline role of industry associations and chambers of commerce and guide enterprises to perform security prevention and control responsibilities in their business activities. We must transform functions, innovate mechanisms, use the methods of government establishment, market operation, and social participation, actively provide public welfare positions, encourage the development of liability insurance, security insurance, community comprehensive insurance, and other emerging businesses, support insurance institutions in their use of equity investments, strategic cooperation, and other methods to participate in the integration of the security service production chain, and stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of all sectors of society to participate in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems.

(xxi) Actively expand public participation. We must uphold the dominant position of the people, further broaden the channels by which the masses can participate in societal security prevention and control, and guarantee the people’s right to know, participate, make suggestions, and supervise in accordance with the law. We must inherit and carry forward the fine tradition of combining professionals and the masses, give full play to the exemplary and leading role of Communist Party members and Communist Youth League members, give full play to the important role of militia reserve personnel, develop and strengthen specialization, professionalization, and socialization forces such as peace and security volunteers, community workers, and mass prevention and control teams, actively explore new mechanisms and models for mass prevention and control under the new situation, and strive to increase the proportion of registered community volunteers in the resident population by 2020. We must implement the reporting and reward system and give major rewards to those who provide major clues, help solve major cases, effectively stop illegal and criminal activities, and assist in the capture of criminals. We must improve the identification mechanisms and compensation and relief mechanisms for people who are righteous and brave, strengthen the work of protecting the rights and interests of people who are righteous and brave, expand the scale of the Foundation For Justice And Courage, intensify the commendation of those who have the courage to do what is right, and strictly implement pension and compensation in accordance with relevant regulations. We must give full play to the role of traditional media and new media, adopt propaganda and education methods that are well received by the masses, raise people’s awareness of security precautions, organize and mobilize the masses to care about, support, and participate in the construction of societal security prevention and control systems, and strive to improve social communication capabilities in the new media era.

All regions must follow the requirements of this Opinion, combine considerations of the local societal security situation and the actual economic and social development, research and formulate guidelines and specific implementation plans for strengthening the construction of the societal security prevention and control system based on levels and types, and assign tasks and responsibilities to relevant departments and units.