Jiangsu Changzhou Mayor Goes to Airport to "Change Positions and Run" in Response to Netizen Appeals

According to Changzhou Daily, recently, in response to netizens’ calls for more convenient travel services, Zhou Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Changzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor, visited Changzhou Benniu International Airport to “swap roles” and experience from the perspective of an ordinary traveler.

“Until what time does the airport bus run? How many taxis are available normally? Can the passage from the airport exit to the ride-hailing pick-up point be further optimized and made closer?” From the exit of Gate 2 at the airport to the ride-hailing pick-up point, then to domestic departures, airport security, and international departures, Zhou Wei walked and asked along the way, inquiring about travelers’ experiences and suggestions, and learning about relevant situations from airport officials.

Currently, Changzhou Airport, in cooperation with public security, transportation, and other departments, has completed on-site surveys and plans to move the ride-hailing pick-up point to the underground parking lot.

This is a vivid example of Jiangsu’s “Swap Roles” initiative.

Unlike investigative visits, “Swap Roles” involves leaders and government staff changing identities to experience services as the public or business personnel do, immersing themselves in the workflow, and critically examining service efficiency to identify and resolve bottlenecks and pain points in work and policy implementation.

In Jiangsu, this approach to promoting government service optimization began in Wuxi and Suzhou.

• In January 2023, a staff member from Wuxi Market Supervision Bureau, dressed in Meituan delivery uniform, experienced food delivery, identified issues, and proactively incorporated them into a special regulatory system survey, gaining widespread online attention and praise.

• In February 2025, seven officials from Suzhou Xiangcheng Economic Development Zone took two weeks off to fully immerse themselves in the roles of new employment groups such as ride-hail drivers, couriers, and food delivery workers. According to local media, over 400 institutional achievements have been promoted in Suzhou through the “Swap Roles” activity.

This year, “Swap Roles” was included in Jiangsu Province’s government work report. The report clearly states the need to implement a new round of policies to optimize the business environment, amplify the comprehensive effects of “efficiently completing a task,” and promote “Swap Roles.”

Currently, many regions and departments in Jiangsu have proposed different requirements around “Swap Roles.”

Wuxi emphasizes that “Swap Roles” mainly focuses on three areas: business environment, safety production, and convenient services, covering all city departments, sectors, and state-owned enterprises. Officials are required to experience at least once per quarter, transforming “swap” from a temporary action into a routine method.

Changzhou requires all city leaders to experience the service process as the applicant, delving into the fields of market, government affairs, rule of law, industry, and culture, and has designed three forms of “Swap Roles”: government and enterprises swapping roles, with leaders handling enterprise-related affairs fully as business personnel to feel issues like time-consuming steps and repeated documentation; swapping roles with employees, shifting from “I manage” to “I do,” making decisions more practical; and individual and mechanism swapping, with assistants accompanying the public to identify procedural bottlenecks and promote iterative improvements.

Zhenjiang has carried out the “Swap Roles” initiative in government services, with participants through accompanying, proxy, and online services, totaling 135 “swap” experiences, discovering and helping resolve 32 issues, and proposing 45 improvement measures.

Lianyungang’s Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning has outlined 35 key “Swap Roles” areas and specific plans, conducting at least 20 experiences per quarter and over 80 annually, covering the entire process to comprehensively experience service procedures. Focused on recurring, unresolved issues in natural resources, designated departments conduct targeted “Swap Roles” experiences, and organize “review” style special experiences for key issues identified in inspections and audits.

△ At the auxiliary employment resource allocation center in Wujin District, Changzhou, Deputy Director Shen Shuiqing of the Changzhou Disabled Persons Comprehensive Service Center blindfolds himself to experience the real conditions of auxiliary employment positions.

Currently, the whole Party is actively studying and practicing the correct view of political achievements.

“Swap Roles” aims to break down information barriers and identity gaps through role reversal, allowing officials to answer fundamental questions such as “For whom are achievements built, what kind of achievements, and how to build them” through firsthand experience.

Serving the people is the greatest achievement.

The ultimate goal of “swap” is “effectiveness”—not only to accelerate on-site rectification but also to deepen long-term governance. Political achievements are not in office documents but in public reputation; not in flashy propaganda but in tangible results.

Reporter: Dong Xin