"We should try to adopt every open, convenient and easy method to guarantee the public's right to express their requests to the government," said Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at a video tele-conference on government officials receiving citizens and visiting grassroots people.

In the past nine months, asked by the central government, senior officials of the city, county and district governments met with ordinary citizens in person regularly, listening to their requests and complaints and helping solve their problems. They also paid more frequent visits to grassroots people.

"Their work eased serious problems that were closely related to people's interests and threatened social stability," Zhou said. "Their visits at grassroots levels contributed to the implementation and improvement of central government policies."

The country will formulate the measures into a system and continue improving them, he said. Supervision will be tightened upon the implementation of the measures.

"Senior officials of local governments will receive serious penalty according to laws and Party disciplines if problems and conflicts worsen and linger because they ignore people's requests, harm their rights and interests, breach their duty."

Officials were also urged to well inform people about expressing their requests through legal and rational ways.

Governments at all levels should adopt a scientific and democratic way of decision making, pay more attention to public service and try to prevent new problems from emerging, Zhou said.

They should also find out the cause and solution to existing problems, he said. "They should focus on well solving people's legal requests timely."