Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) leave the Great Hall of the People after the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, March 10, 2024. /Xinhua

Editor's note: Li Junru, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is the former vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Despite China's commitment to democracy, some Westerners have started to hype China's alleged democratic stagnation, accusing the country of promoting its "authoritarian governance to a global audience." Such cognition stems from their lack of understanding of Chinese-style democracy.

To understand the real "essence of people's democracy," one must understand China's democratic consultation, which is the most notable and unique feature of China's participatory democracy.

China's democracy is an integration of two major democratic models – electoral democracy and consultative democracy. While the former is realized through the electoral and representative mechanisms of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the National People's Congress (NPC), the latter is an important model where different sectors of the people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and through extensive consultations, work to reach consensus over the making and implementation of decisions on major issues concerning reform, development and stability, and on matters bearing on the vital interests of the people.

In China, it is required that the decision-making process be initiated only when consensus is reached on a matter through consultation. This is a distinctive feature and advantage of China's socialist democratic politics.

Meanwhile, dedicated channels through which netizens can air their thoughts were set up on the Internet to integrate the opinions of the people into top-level policy design. For instance, an estimate of 1.018 million pieces of advice was received through online channels before the CPC made proposals on formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development.

Opinions and suggestions gathered by these means were of great importance for the CPC Central Committee to finalize the "proposals." Therefore, China's democracy, with democratic consultation, is a model that allows the extensive participation of the people in the whole decision-making process.

Zhang Junjie (2nd L), a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, communicates with residents at a local legislators' liaison station in Qinhuai District of Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, February 22, 2024. /Xinhua

At a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on September 21, 2014, President Xi insightfully noted that "if the people merely have the right to vote but no right to extensive participation, in other words, if they are only awakened at election time but go into hibernation afterwards, then this kind of democracy will only be a formalistic one."

China's democracy is a whole-process democracy, which allows the people to exercise their democratic rights in all aspects, including the selection of officials, decision-making, legislation, management and supervision, among others.

For instance, people in Beijing know they can reach the government for help when experiencing difficulties or problems in public life by calling the "12345" hotline from anywhere and anytime.

In his speech at a ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC in 2021, President Xi said, "we will… practice a people-centered philosophy of development" and "develop whole-process people's democracy." The idea that the people are the masters of their country lies at the very heart of China's success.

Democracy is a value shared by all humanity. Abusing human rights, some Western countries and their politicians are in absolutely no position to talk about China's democracy. Those who are most entitled to do so are the 1.4 billion Chinese people.

As a Chinese stomach cannot adapt to cold milk and an American is not accustomed to chopsticks, democracy has no set model. China's whole-process democracy, with its unique charm, is practical on Chinese soil. It ensures people are the masters of their country and their own destinies. China stands tall as a unique model of democracy for the world.