On December 17, dozens of international guests, including foreign government officials, experts and scholars, walked into the 12345 Citizen Service Hotline Reception Hall in Beijing, to learn about the hotline and online channels for public requests in an "Approaching 12345" event. 

The participants stood next to the operators and listened to the citizen hotline to experience firsthand the process and effectiveness of "one hotline leveraging urban governance reform" through this on-site visit. They listened to the introduction, and also had some interactive experiences. 

Andreas Grammatikogiannis, Deputy Mayor of Athens, Greece, said that, in his country, there are similar platforms like the 12345 Hotline and an online platform where people can sign up and report problems with photos or relevant evidence of documentations in order to resolve the similar problems in Athens. Grammatikogiannis believed that it was very exciting and rewarding to visit Beijing 12345 closely, "It's a great opportunity to discuss new ideas, share best practices between the two cities, and try to find common solutions in problems that we have in Athens as well as in Beijing.”

According to the introduction, Beijing "12345" hotline, from the initial mayor's hotline with only one phone, to the non emergency rescue service center before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and then to the initiative of "Swift Response to Public Complaints" in 2019, has been given new vitality, connecting the "concentric circle" of serving the people and driving the great transformation of urban governance.

This year, the 12345 hotline is expected to receive 24 million citizen appeals, which exceeds the total population of Beijing and demonstrates the trust of citizens and businesses in the 12345 hotline and their expectations for a better life. More than 1710 telephone operators serve as a bridge for communication between the government and citizens. The hotline provides 24/7 service and handles an average of 65000 appeals per day. Each operator works 8 hours a day and answers 80 to 100 calls.  Every call from citizen will get answered. Telephone operators work with enthusiasm, patience, meticulousness, efficiency, professionalism, and dedication.

The 12345 hotline will handle every feedback message with a high standard process, adhering to the concept of "all time" and "all channels" demand handling. Citizens can report problems anytime and anywhere and have full expression rights. In order to further optimize the business environment, the 12345 hotline also provides services for enterprises. A total of 13 optimization measures have been formulated in response to the demands of enterprises, committed to creating a "total customer service" for 24/7 enterprise services.

The 12345 hotline has transformed into a "window+think tank" digital analysis application, gathering 150 million historical data and carefully building multiple rich application scenarios, focusing on intelligent acceptance, intelligent dispatching, intelligent evaluation, intelligent analysis and other aspects, continuously improving its intelligence level. Through big data analysis, provide reference for government decision-making, and establish digital management platforms in various regions and departments to make urban governance as refined as embroidery.

After visiting the practice of using AI and other technological means to achieve urban governance in Beijing's government services, Alfonso Jiménez Cascante, mayor of Municipality of Mora of Costa Rica, said, "I think you have to use all the technologies that you have in your business. For me, it's very important because at the end of the day, the technology can help you in different situations." In terms of improving urban governance, he believes that countries need to share all knowledge and technology to help each other, and "In Latin America, we need all the good practices that are happening in Beijing."

"Approaching 12345" is one of the series of activities of the "2024 Beijing Forum on Swift Response to Public Complaints", which will be held from December 18 to 19 in Beijing, China. The permanent theme of the forum is "People's City  Better Future", and the 2024 annual theme is "Modernizing for People-centered Urban Governance". This forum is jointly hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China Media Group, CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality.