Hangzhou Xihu District Pioneers Classified Governance
Hangzhou’s Xihu District has rolled out a “classified governance” approach to tackle persistent grassroots challenges in urban communities, deploying tailored solutions for different types of residential neighborhoods. The initiative, reported by Xinhua News, reflects a broader national push to strengthen community-level governance through party-building leadership.
The district’s strategy targets two primary governance pain points: commercial housing communities and villages converted to residential areas. By promoting party-building led governance under the principle of “People call, I act,” the district aims to transform organizational advantages into tangible governance outcomes for residents.
Three Models, One Goal
Xihu District has developed three distinct governance models, each calibrated to address the specific challenges of different community types.
Wenxin Subdistrict focuses on commercial housing communities, which often struggle with difficulties in selecting capable leaders, scattered governance forces, and mutual trust problems among stakeholders. The subdistrict has reserved 137 capable residents for self-governance teams and implemented dual entry and cross-appointment between party organizations and owners’ committees, with major matters reviewed by party branches. Innovative deliberation mechanisms include joint construction committee supervision, mutual assessment between property companies and owners’ committees, monthly reports from owners’ committees, and designated owner reception days.
A resident of Zijin Garden in Wenxin Subdistrict told Xinhua: “Now the party organization takes the lead in building platforms, and conflicts in the community are resolved through on-site consultation, and the living environment continues to improve.”
Jiangcun Subdistrict addresses the “share-community separation” challenge in villages converted to residential areas, where economic cooperatives from former villages are disconnected from community governance structures. Using the Lingboyuan community as a model, the subdistrict promotes “share-community co-building,” with party member full coverage in property management committees. The subdistrict has also established the “Heart-to-Heart Tea Room” as a deliberation platform to collect resident demands, launched the “Soldier Brother Bun Shop” convenience project, and regularly conducts “Public Welfare Little Angel” volunteer services.
Xihu Urban Investment, a state-owned enterprise, has created a “Property+” full-domain operation model for old residential communities. The model activates community facilities, street shops, and park idle spaces to build a 15-minute convenience circle for residents and businesses. It transforms property services from single residential management to comprehensive operations covering residential, commercial, and industrial domains.
National Context and Local Innovation
The classified governance approach aligns with a national push for party-building led grassroots governance. As People’s Daily reported in late July, communities across China are exploring new models of community governance, with party organizations at the grassroots level mobilizing resident participation and improving property services.
Xihu District has been at the forefront of these efforts. In August 2025, the district’s Beishan Subdistrict implemented a property management quality improvement initiative through “red empowerment,” “smart upgrades,” and “warm services,” as reported by CNR. The initiative transformed old residential communities from merely habitable to genuinely comfortable.
Jiangcun Subdistrict has also been active in urban renewal and community governance innovation. China News Service highlighted the subdistrict’s efforts to create an all-age shared center and revitalize community spaces, positioning it as a model for urban renewal in the region. In April 2026, Zhejiang Online reported on the subdistrict’s “Little Brother Ma” volunteer team, which integrates delivery riders and couriers into grassroots governance through a three-tier emergency response mechanism.
Analysis and Implications
The classified governance approach represents a pragmatic shift in how Chinese cities address the complexity of urban community management. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all solution, Xihu District’s model recognizes that commercial housing, resettlement communities, and old residential areas face fundamentally different governance challenges that require tailored responses.
The emphasis on party-building leadership as the connective tissue across all three models reflects a deliberate strategy to create institutional continuity. By embedding party organizations in owners’ committees, property management structures, and state-owned enterprise operations, the district aims to build sustainable governance capacity that transcends individual leadership changes.
The “Property+” model, in particular, signals an evolution in how state-owned enterprises engage with community services. By expanding property management into comprehensive operations spanning residential, commercial, and industrial domains, Xihu Urban Investment is positioning itself as a full-service community partner rather than a traditional property manager.
What’s Next
Looking ahead, Xihu District plans to summarize the three types of party-building experience—commercial housing self-governance, share-community co-building, and state-owned enterprise linkage—and promote cross-district party-building joint construction. The district will also work to improve multi-party collaborative governance mechanisms and activate party-mass service resources across the region.
As urban China continues to grapple with the challenges of rapid development and demographic change, Xihu District’s classified governance model offers a potentially replicable template for other cities seeking to strengthen grassroots governance. The key question will be whether these models can be scaled beyond Hangzhou and adapted to the diverse conditions of communities across the country.