Zhejiang Residents Wait 10 Years for House Number Plates

More than 1,400 households in Shanglu Community, Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province have gone without house number plates for nearly a decade, a People’s Daily investigation has revealed, exposing significant gaps in grassroots governance and administrative accountability.

The community, located in the urban-rural fringe of Jiangbei Subdistrict, has had no road names or house numbers since a large-scale renovation began in 2016. Residents report being unable to receive mail reliably, order food delivery, install broadband, call ambulances with a clear address, or give directions to visitors. Approximately 3,000 people have been affected by the administrative inertia.

A Decade of Inconvenience

Shanglu was originally a village before being administratively reorganized into a residential community in 2004. When the old district renovation began in 2016, new homes were built but the accompanying infrastructure of road signs and house number plates was never completed. Nearby communities that underwent similar renovations have since received their numbers, compounding the frustration of Shanglu residents.

“I completed my new home nearly ten years ago, but the address on my ID card still says ‘Shanglu Community, Shanglu’ — a vague description,” one resident, Mr. Lu, told reporters. He described having to cycle over a kilometer to a collection point to pick up parcels, as delivery drivers cannot find his home.

A community staff member acknowledged the problem: “It’s very hard for us to find people too. We can only count buildings from the intersection.”

A Broken Promise

In January 2025, a resident posted a complaint on the People’s Daily “Leadership Message Board,” a platform where citizens can directly appeal to local officials. In March 2025, the Jiangbei Subdistrict Office responded publicly, stating that the renovation was “basically complete” and that road signs and house numbers would be installed by the end of 2025.

More than six months after that deadline passed, however, no signs or number plates have appeared.

When asked about the delay, community officials offered conflicting explanations. Jin Guoliang, a Jiangbei Subdistrict joint village cadre, said the community was waiting for all construction to finish before installing uniform numbers. He Weiliang, the Shanglu Community Party Branch Secretary, echoed this, insisting on a unified approach.

Yet according to technical experts at the Dongyang Civil Affairs Bureau, there is no legal or procedural barrier to proceeding. A staff member from the bureau’s Zoning and Place Names Section explained that house numbers can be assigned as long as there is a general layout plan. “Houses awaiting demolition can first be assigned temporary numbers,” he said. A colleague at the Civil Affairs Service Center added that completed areas can be numbered by block division even if other parts remain under construction.

The Zhejiang Province Place Name Management Measures, which took effect in June 2025, provides a clear legal framework for such processes.

Governance Gap

In a commentary published alongside the investigation, People’s Daily argued that the case reflects a deeper problem in cadre conduct. “A small house number plate’s ‘lateness’ reflects the weakening of the sense of purpose among some Party members and cadres,” the commentary stated, linking the issue to the Communist Party’s ongoing campaign on “correct views of political achievement.”

The investigation reveals a disconnect between municipal-level policy clarity and grassroots implementation. While the Civil Affairs Bureau confirmed that the process is straightforward — a community proposes a scheme, it is publicly announced, and after bureau approval it can be implemented — community leaders have insisted on waiting for full construction completion, prioritizing uniformity over residents’ immediate needs.

One community staff member, Lu Xiaohua, told residents: “We’ll definitely get it done in the next couple of years. You’ve already gone so many years without it, a few more days won’t matter.”

What’s Next

The People’s Daily investigation, published on July 29, 2026, under the newspaper’s “People’s Direct Hit” investigative series, places significant media pressure on Dongyang authorities. The accompanying editorial signals high-level attention to what might otherwise seem a minor administrative issue.

Whether this scrutiny will translate into action remains an open question. The community’s Party Secretary has stated that a numbering scheme has been initiated, though he cautioned it will not happen overnight. For the 3,000 residents of Shanglu, who have heard promises before, the proof will be in the plates on their walls.