Governance of community development in China has witnessed two major perennial problems: lack of residents' participation and low effectiveness. This case is derived from Gantang Compound of Gantang Town of Huangshan District of Huangshan City in Anhui Province. The Compound has attempted to address the two problems by innovating a new mode of social governance that leverages its WeChat public account "Gantangweicun", the account as set up on "WeCounty" (i.e., a public benefit service platform provided by China's tech giant Tencent). 

With 15 menu items fitting into 4 major categories, the WeChat public account has become a platform for community governance. For example, online management of Party members are carried out by two menu items: "Dangjianzhijia" (or "Home of Party Building" in English) and "Dangyuanjiaoyu" (or "Party Member Education"). The menu item of "Shujixinxiang" (or "Mailbox of Secretary of Village Party Branch Committee" in English) facilitates secretary's communication with other Party members and villagers. The menu item of "Cunweiriji" (or "Journal of Villagers" Committee' in English) provides a space for village leadership to disseminate information and ideas related to governance issues. Transparency has been increased particularly by the use of two menu items: "Cunwugongkai" (or "Village Affairs Openness" in English) and "Caiwugongkai" (or "Financial Disclosure" in English). Villagers can have quick access to information about legal aid and agricultural assistance under "Falvzixun" (or "Legal Advice" in English) and "Nongjizixun" (or "Agricultural Skills Consulting" in English). The menu item of "Huodongxinxi" (or "Activity Information" in English) has particularly motivated villagers to participate in community building activities (e.g., questionnaires). 

In this case, the WeChat public account of "Gantangweicun" has played a constructive role in two aspects of community governance. By promoting transparency, it has empowered villagers to pay more attention to, supervise and even participate in the governance of village affairs. This, in turn, can increase their trust in and satisfaction with the government. The WeChat public account has also enabled community governance to become more targeted and more effective by leveraging various menu items to improve interactions between village leadership and villagers. Here, it deserves noting that "WeCounty" has been used as a platform to develop new mode of community governance in this case. A promising line of further development is how to make this platform more adjustable to local needs and more friendly to the user.