The Evolution of Grassroots Governance in China: Home Visits by Work Teams in Xinjiang

Abstract This article analyses the fanghuiju 访惠聚 campaign as a core component of grassroots governance in Xinjiang. It traces its evolution from Mao-era mobilization practices to a systematized mechanism of authoritarian control in the Xi Jinping era. Moving beyond institutional and security-centric frameworks, the study situates fanghuiju as a regionally initiated, localized adaptation by the Xinjiang government and grassroots cadres that blends revolutionary traditions in China with contemporary innovations in surveillance, personalized datafication and ideological governance. Drawing on state media, policy documents and extensive analysis of work team literature, this paper argues that fanghuiju work teams represent a localized fusion of Maoist mobilization and Xi-era high-tech governance. They function as tools for grassroots surveillance, political indoctrination and socio-economic restructuring, marking a shift from episodic campaigns to permanent, embedded governance that blends top-down control with bottom-up engagement.