Beijing's "12345" citizen service hotline, a cornerstone of the capital's responsive and people-focused urban governance, has won plaudits from a visiting South African delegation, who toured the service operation center to study its innovative public service model on Tuesday.
The hotline is part of a citywide initiative which was launched in the Chinese capital in 2019, integrating more than 60 services into a single unified hotline telephone number -- 12345 -- which serves as the primary channel for the more than 20 million Beijing residents to voice their concerns while allowing a swift response mechanism for public complaints.
Operating around the clock, the hotline service center is staffed by over 1,700 operators who work in shifts to address calls and handle requests covering nearly every aspect of urban life in Beijing, including transportation, housing, education, healthcare, employment and business services.
The South African delegation who visited the hotline service center were given an in-depth look at the platform's end-to-end operations.
During the tour, the group observed frontline operators at work, including seeing how the center is offering AI-powered intelligent services, dedicated sign language assistance for hearing-impaired users, and a specialized consumer rights support department.
Delegates also listened in on live citizen calls, witnessing first-hand the hotline's reputation for warm, efficient, and resident-focused service delivery.
Among the visitors was Dr. Reneva Fourie, a Politburo Member of the South African Communist Party (SACP), who highlighted the system's focus on improving residents' quality of life.
"I like the fact that [a resident] feels comfortable requesting a toilet for a park for 50 people only, and the government is responsive to it -- I think that's very impressive. I also like the center, it's very people centric, the technology is amazing. The fact that the data is recorded real time enables evidence-based policy making and what is the most impressive is the commitment to improve the quality of life of people," she said.
Meanwhile, Lebogang Pule, a National Committee Member of the Youth Communist League of South Africa, noted the transformative potential the model could provide if adopted in her home country.
"Basically this is a culture shock for us because in South Africa we actually don't have such [services]. It's also quite impressive seeing young people working and knowing that young people are very good with technology and they catch up fast, so, if one day we get such a system, it would be better for our country," she said.
Members of the visiting delegation also hailed how Beijing's continuous innovation and refinement of urban governance through the hotline offers valuable, shareable lessons for cities across South Africa and around the world.
Beijing's citizen service hotline impresses int'l visitors with people-focused urban governance model
