From Relief of Visits to Embedding Good Governance: Mechanism Construction and Practical Reflection on the Intervention Work of Border Social Workers in Letters and Visits

The report delivered at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China underscored the dual priorities of safeguarding national security and maintaining social stability, particularly through the advancement of prosperity and development in border regions. This study presents field research on the implementation and outcomes of the Livelihood Security Project in Jingxi City and Longzhou County, Guangxi. It highlights key successes in infrastructure development, the enhancement of public service systems, economic growth, and innovations in social governance. The findings demonstrate that the project has significantly contributed to improving living standards and fostering regional stability. However, the research also identifies several persistent challenges, including imbalanced resource distribution and policy prioritization, limited capacity in grassroots governance, deficiencies in the social security framework, and shortcomings in policy execution and oversight mechanisms. In response, this paper proposes targeted recommendations to maximize the impact of the Livelihood Security and Border Stabilization Project. These include recalibrating resource and policy allocations, optimizing public service delivery, strengthening governance capacity at the local level, and reinforcing accountability in policy implementation. The study concludes by synthesizing the practical experiences of Jingxi and Longzhou, offering insights for sustained stability in border regions, and suggesting pathways for the future evolution of the Livelihood Security Project in Guangxi’s frontier areas.