During the winter season, ensuring adequate heating is a crucial issue affecting people's well-being in North China.

Using the online platform "Smart People's Congress", Cao Xinsheng, 52, a deputy to the people's congress of Yuci district in Jinzhong city, Shanxi province, has worked to efficiently address public concerns over winter heating.

Recently, a local resident, Feng Jingkai, reported through an online message that his indoor temperature was uncomfortably low in the mornings and evenings.

"I tried contacting the heating provider, but the customer service line was always busy," Feng said.

After receiving his feedback, Cao coordinated with the community and the company's relevant department to address the issue. He also visited residents to gather detailed information about their needs.

"Heating is a fundamental winter issue, and inadequate service directly affects residents' comfort," Cao said.

Shortly afterward, a series of optimization measures were implemented. The heating company achieved comprehensive grid-based service coverage, with grid employees joining residential community WeChat groups. A hotline was also established to ensure public concerns about heating were addressed within two hours.

"Through the platform, I realized that serving the public is not about solving isolated individual issues, but about integrating common demands to extend services to more people," Cao said.

The case is a vivid example of how the platform empowers grassroots deputies in the district.

To date, deputies in Yuci have uploaded more than 21,000 pieces of performance-related information, interacted with the public more than 600 times, and helped resolve 606 civil issues through the platform.

"We independently developed the smart platform in 2018 and officially launched it in 2021. We are the first in the province to build such a smart online platform," said Guo Qiang, deputy director of the standing committee of the Yuci district people's congress. "It includes 10 core sections, such as supervision and deputies' suggestions, making it easier for deputies to perform their duties, connect with the public, manage suggestions efficiently, stay informed and provide precise services," Guo added.

The platform assigns a unique QR code to each deputy, allowing citizens to scan it with their mobile phones and leave messages, which deputies can then respond to promptly.

"The platform enables all-time, zero-distance contact between deputies and the public," said deputy Chen Liyuan.

"I have focused on social welfare issues, particularly elderly care, for years. With the establishment of the platform, I proactively gathered public opinions on elderly care and proposed representative suggestions that were actively adopted by the city government," she said. "This resulted in the issuance of four documents to strengthen the development of the city's elderly care services."

"We transformed scheduled offline meetings into all-time availability, making it easier and more convenient for the public to connect with deputies," said Duan Wenyan, the platform's manager. "We built a 24-hour contact point for zero-distance communication between the public and deputies."

"The platform can also track performance data and generate electronic files for each deputy, supporting deputy management and services," she added.

For Cao, grassroots people's congress deputies must not only collect public demands, but also promote policy implementation.

"By leveraging the convenience of digital technology, we can build a bridge between the public and the government," he said.