Summary

• From the perspective of co-production, this article examines how Chinese citizens and governments worked together in fighting against COVID-19 in a health emergency context.
• Based on observations, as well as analyses of policy documents and self-organization cases, this article shows that Chinese citizens and governments collaborated through three different channels in fighting against the virus, but different channels produced different results.
• First, through residential committees, Chinese governments mobilized most citizens to comply with stay-at-home orders, contact traced and isolated suspected cases through existing networks within the communities.
• Second, as a formal channel for state–society interaction during the crisis, government-organized nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) failed in bridging demands of the health system and contributions from citizens.
• Third, self-organizations emerged as a key informal channel for citizens to fight against the virus. The experiences and lessons learned in this citizen–government collaboration in combating the virus may offer some implications for other settings.