BEIJING, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2024 Beijing Forum on Swift Response to Public Complaints opened in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, where leading global academics and representatives share their insights and explore strategies for modernizing urban governance.

With the theme of "Modernizing for People-Centered Urban Governance," the two-day event from Wednesday to Thursday has gathered more than 700 participants, including domestic and international guests, representatives from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR and the Taiwan region, scholars from universities and representatives of grassroots workers.

Beijing is a city with a profound history and rich cultural heritage, as well as a vibrant, modern international metropolis. Covering an area of over 16,000 square kilometers, it has a permanent population of 21.858 million.

In response to urban governance challenges, Beijing launched the swift response to public complaints reform in 2019, providing rapid responses and efficient handling of citizens' concerns through the 12345 Citizen Service Hotline.

Over the past five years, the city has handled 150 million complaints from citizens, achieving a resolution rate of 96.5 percent and a satisfaction rate of 96.9 percent.

The attendees have been invited to visit the Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center on the sideline of the forum, to gain firsthand insights into Beijing's exploration and innovation in the governance of mega-cities.

Sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China Media Group, Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, the forum has a main forum and six parallel sessions.