To understand China, the country's democracy is an indispensable part. The West has questioned China's democracy for decades. While China remains committed to "whole-process people's democracy," the West still clings to a governance philosophy with elections at the core, even mischaracterizing Chinese-style democracy as autocracy.

How should we define China's democracy? How is it different from Western democracy?

To answer such questions, here are stories from a Communist Party of China (CPC) secretary working in a Central China village and Shanghai subdistrict officials helping stranded passengers in Hongqiao railway station during COVID-19 quarantine measures. Four scholars from home and abroad also offer their interpretations of China's democracy.

Click on the video to better understand democracy in this oriental country.

(Produced by Han Xiaomeng, Yang Yang, Liang Peiyu, Lin Rui, Zhu Yingqi, and Wang Zi)