BEIJING - China's whole-process people's democracy involves complete institutional procedures, said a white paper released Saturday by the State Council Information Office.

In China, the people's status as masters of the country is the bedrock of all the systems of the country, and underlies the operation of all the systems for state governance, according to the white paper titled "China: Democracy That Works."

Whole-process people's democracy involves complete institutional procedures, the white paper said, adding that these well-coordinated and comprehensive institutional procedures serve to put into place diverse, open, and well-organized democratic channels to ensure that the Party's policies and the state will are integrated with the people's aspirations, and that the people are masters of the country.

The white paper said China is a socialist country governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants. The fundamental nature of the state is defined by the people's democratic dictatorship.

China upholds the unity of democracy and dictatorship to ensure the people's status as masters of the country. Democracy and dictatorship appear to be a contradiction in terms, but together they ensure the people's status as masters of the country, the white paper stressed.

The system of people's congresses, an organizational form of political power compatible with the governing system of the people's democratic dictatorship, is China's fundamental political system, and the ultimate approach and optimal solution to guaranteeing the people's status as masters of the country. It is also an important institutional support to whole-process people's democracy, the white paper said.

It said under the shared banner of people's democracy, and respecting the principles of long-term coexistence, mutual oversight, sincerity, and sharing the rough times and the smooth, the CPC and the other parties have created a new political party system with distinctive Chinese features and strengths.

In practicing people's democracy, the Party has always placed the united front in an important position, striving to achieve great unity and solidarity and balance commonality and diversity, the white paper said, adding the CPC has combined all the forces that can be united and mobilized all positive factors to build a broad consensus, expand common ground, and achieve convergence of interests.

China's regional ethnic autonomy is autonomy under the unified leadership of the state. Territorial integrity and national unification are preconditions and foundations for regional ethnic autonomy, which combines unification with autonomy and ethnic factors with regional factors, and are thoroughly suited to China's realities, the white paper said.

Regional ethnic autonomy provides institutional and policy guarantees to ensure that ethnic minority citizens enjoy rights to equality and freedom, and to economic, social and cultural services, it added.

The white paper said China applies a system of community-level self-governance represented by villagers autonomy, urban residents autonomy, and employees congresses. Under the leadership and support of community-level Party organizations, local residents directly exercise the democratic right to manage their own affairs by serving the community, undertaking self-education, and exercising public scrutiny.