Xi's initiative helping solve grassroots problems, address complaints

"He then said that a road that would bring prosperity to local people must be built well, before setting a date for the renovation project. The whole process took less than half hour," Jiang said.

"Before I met Xi, my aim was to simply let him know how badly people wanted to see the road repaired. I never imagined that the problem would be solved on the spot."

After the repairs were made, a 13-kilometer section of treacherous mountain road was transformed into a two-way highway stretching for about 6 km with four lanes, significantly reducing local people's journey times. The road has often been referred to as "Jinping Road "by locals ever since.

On that day, Xi and other officials received complaints from 667 people and solved 91 problems. After meeting the public, Xi said most people's problems are caused by social development. Officials, especially those in key posts, must be encouraged to reach out to people and take their problems seriously, no matter how trivial they may seem, Zhejiang Daily reported on Sept 20, 2003.

Jiang said: "'Jinping Road' is just one of the legacies of Xi's visit to Pujiang. What's more important is that it made local officials understand the need to solve people's problems proactively, instead of passing the buck to someone else."