President Xi Jinping has written back to the Zhangzhou 110 police unit in Fujian province, calling on police officers nationwide to remain committed to serving the people, act as loyal guardians of the Party and the people, and show a strong sense of responsibility and dedication.
A letter from the grassroots
Members of the Zhangzhou 110 unit had earlier written to Xi, reporting on their work and expressing their determination to keep fulfilling their duties. In his reply, Xi praised the officers for their dedication and hard work serving the public and maintaining social stability at the grassroots level. He stressed that public security work carries the important responsibility of safeguarding people's well-being and the country's peace, and called on police nationwide to carry forward fine traditions, wholeheartedly address the public's needs and concerns, and work solidly to protect people's safety.
From an emergency line to people's guardians
In China, dial 110 in an emergency is a widely known phrase, and Zhangzhou 110 is one of the country's model grassroots police units. Since 1990, the unit has pioneered and continually refined a rapid response mechanism built around the 110 emergency call service, playing a significant role in fighting crime, maintaining public order and serving the community. While working in Fujian in the 1990s, Xi visited the unit three times to inspect and guide its work. According to a report by the overseas edition of People's Daily, during a 1996 visit, when Xi was deputy secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee, he said the 110 emergency service was foundational to serving the public, describing it as an important channel linking the Party committee to the people and a way of narrowing the distance between public security agencies and the public, and praising the unit's officers as guardians of the people.
From keeping order to handling everyday troubles
Before Zhangzhou 110 was established, police duties were generally understood to center on maintaining public order and fighting crime. After the unit was set up, residents found they could also call 110 for help with things like getting a lost elderly person home or mediating a dispute between neighbors. That shift sparked debate within the unit. In one case, a pregnant woman with no family members around called 110 asking officers to take her to the hospital as she was about to give birth, and officers did so, but some grumbled that the job felt more like being a housekeeper than a police officer.
After discussion, the unit settled on a shared understanding: as the people's police under the Party's leadership, serving the public is a duty that cannot be shirked, and it adopted a guiding principle that the people's difficulties are the unit's difficulties, and the people's satisfaction is its greatest wish. Over the years, Zhangzhou 110 has pushed through a series of institutional innovations and used modern technology to respond to incidents faster. Officer Wang Shaohui said that more often than fighting crime, the unit is helping ordinary residents, and that responding even a second sooner means the public can feel at ease a second sooner.
A young officer's reflection
Wan Lin, another officer with the unit, said he felt greatly inspired after reading Xi's reply. He said Xi's emphasis in the letter on police bearing responsibility for the people's well-being and the country's peace gave young officers like himself a sense of direction and strong motivation, adding that he would answer every call for help and resolve every dispute with care, working to keep the community safe and at peace.
