中国这个有着9亿农民的世界上人口最多的国家，民主化进程正在发生着新的深刻变化—在大约100万的村落中，群众公开地推选出自己拥护的领头人，这就是10年来在中国广大农村推行的村民委员会选举。民主意识的春风细雨，滋润着辽阔的中国大地。

The process of democratization has made much headway in China, the world’s most populous¹ country with 900 million farmers. In some one million rural villages, residents have elected their favorite leaders to make up the villagers’ committee. This election breeze, which originated a decade ago and has thus swept across the country’s vast rural areas, has helped foster and enhance the consciousness of democracy of the vast number of Chinese farmers.

村委会选举的实践表明，凡是经过广大农民群众依法直接选举产生的村委会干部，绝大多数为人正直，工作能力强，工作作风比较好，懂经济，会管理，是带领村民致富奔小康，建设富裕、民主、文明的社会主义新农村的带头人。最新一轮换届选举资料显示，新当选的村委会成员教育程度不断提高，年龄结构日趋合理。初中文化程度占70%以上，有些还是大专、大学学历。在全国，30岁左右的年轻人进入村委会的大到60%。农村基层干部队伍的整体素质明显提高。

The practice of village committee elections shows that the majority of committee cadres directly elected by the farmers in accordance with the law are upright and capable, have a good style of administration, and know economics and management. They are leaders who can help their fellow villagers get on the road leading to a comfortable life, reach a moderate level of prosperity and build new socialist² village which are prosperous, democratic and cultured. Studies of the latest round of election indicate that the newly elected members of villagers’ committees are better educated and younger in age: about 70% have received junior middle school education while a few have received a junior college of university education. Young people around the age of 30 make up 60% of the membership of the newly elected villagers’ committees. The overall quality of the contingent³ of rural grassroots cadres has improved significantly.

民主意识的生长正是从最基层的村级选举，从农民生活中，从身边熟悉的人开始的。在村委会的选举中，村民们通过选民登记、候选人提名、预选、参加投票这一项项活动，得到了实实在在的民主训练，开始培育起民主意识和法制观念。

A sense of democracy has indeed grown from the most elementary village-level election, and from the election of the people familiar to the farmer voters. In the course of election, the farmers have received actual democratic training from the process of registrating as voters, nominating candidates, pre-electing and casting votes. This process has also fostered their sense of democracy and law.

中国政府认为，扩大基层民主，保证人民群众直接行使民主权力，依法管理自己多时期，创造自己的幸福生活，是社会主义民主最广泛的实践；并要求城乡基层政权机关和基层群众性自治组织都要健全民主选举制度，实行政务公开和财务公开，让群众参与讨论和决定基层公共事务和公益事业，对干部实行明主监督。

The Chinese government holds that it is the most extensive practice of socialist democracy to expand grassroots democracy, ensure the people their right in direct democratic election, and allow the citizens to manage their own affairs in accordance with the law and build a happy life. The government requires all urban and rural grass-roots organs of political power and grass-roots public self-governing organizations to perfect the democratic electoral system, separate administrative⁴ management from financial management, and let the general public participate in the discussion of and make decisions about grass-roots public and welfare concerns, as well as exercise democratic supervision⁵ over cadres.

进一步搞好村委会选举，是中国亿万农民的共同心愿，也是中国推进政治体制改革和民主政治建设的需要。随着中国经济的持续发展和社会全面进步，中国的民主建设将更加广泛，中国的民主化进程也将进一步加快。

The improvement on the process and procedure in the election of villagers’ committee will not only reflect the common aspiration⁶ of China’s hundreds of millions of farmers, but also meet China’s need to facilitate her national drive for political restructuring and democratization. In the process of the country’s sustained economic development and overall social progress, China’s construction of democracy will be more extensive and meanwhile, its democratization process will speed up.