The Chinese Communist Party authorities have been recruiting a large number of grid personnel at the grassroots level for information collection and “stability maintenance.” These personnel are the main force of the authorities in communities, but their duties are complex and their salaries are low. Due to China’s continued economic downturn in recent years and tight finances at the local government level, these “stability maintenance” personnel have also become part of the wage claimant groups.
According to reports from Benliu News, recently, a netizen posted on a social platform claiming that the Haian District government in Putian City, Fujian Province, has overdue six months of wages for all grid personnel in the district.
Screenshots posted by the netizen showed, “The Haian District government has owed all grid personnel six months of wages. Now even the social security payments have stopped. Grid personnel only earn a little over 2,200 yuan per month, and it’s been overdue for half a year.”
An employee of the Haian District Propaganda Department recently told the Xiao Xiang Morning News that there is indeed wage arrears.
An employee of the Haian District Finance Bureau stated that on August 22, a sum of money was transferred to the grid center. “We have disbursed funds to the grid center in batches from January to August this year for the period from December 2023 to March 2024. The payment made yesterday was for this part. So far, payments have been delayed for four months. We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible and are actively raising funds.”
It is understood that the work of grid personnel in the Haian District is relatively complex, mainly assisting various departments such as communities. “Grid personnel are managed by the grid center and assist departments such as communities and police stations. Salaries are not issued by the communities,” said a community worker.
According to public information, the so-called grid personnel are temporary management personnel employed by the various levels of the Chinese Communist Party government and are the main force in the implementation of grid management and community governance by local governments. However, these “stability maintenance” personnel, who wear “vests” and interact directly with the public, face complex duties and low salaries.
Just last year, local governments in Sichuan frequently hired grid personnel to conduct household inspections, prohibiting locals from “squatting to eat” under the pretext of “changing customs and manners.” Kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms that do not meet official requirements would be fined. After the incidents were exposed, they drew public attention.
Due to China’s continued economic downturn in recent years and the decline in fiscal revenue of the Chinese Communist Party, in addition to reducing the salaries of civil servants, the authorities have also reduced the “stability maintenance” staffing levels. According to several unnamed individuals in Shandong who spoke to Radio Free Asia last year, local governments, overwhelmed by financial pressures, have taken the approach of “consolidation and integration,” downsizing the staffing levels of auxiliary police officers beyond government positions, with the work of these auxiliary police officers taken over by grid personnel.
Regarding the evolution of community workers, Li Jing, a resident of Jiangsu Province (anonymous), previously told Voice of America that during the pandemic, she was called a grid personnel, performing similar tasks to those of the neighborhood committees in the past, now known as community workers. She mentioned that her son went to the United States to study and settle there, and his wife is a Taiwanese immigrant who moved to the United States in the early years. Consequently, community workers frequently visited her to inquire about her son’s situation in the United States.
Han Yue, a community worker working in Qingdao City, Shandong Province (anonymous), stated that his work is “extremely trivial.” In addition to monitoring the overseas relationships of community residents, visits by long-term overseas residents to residents’ homes are also a key focus.
In reality, the recruitment of a large number of personnel by the Chinese authorities at the grassroots level for information collection and stability maintenance is not a new phenomenon. As early as 2018, several communities in Beijing introduced the concept of “stability maintenance information personnel.” By 2023, food delivery riders were recruited as “micro-grid personnel”. The official website of the Wenjiang District in Chengdu City wrote, “We encourage food delivery riders to be the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ of the community.”
Mainland independent commentator Wu Te previously told Epoch Times, “In a free society, social workers exist to help vulnerable groups independently of the government, advocating for and fighting for the rights of these groups. In mainland China, the Chinese Communist Party has alienated social workers into a tool for controlling society. For example, social workers, neighborhood committee volunteers, and grid personnel are linked together to monitor so-called grassroots stability factors, becoming part of the stability maintenance system.”