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December 2, 2014

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Government websites told to improve

THE State Council has ordered government departments to make their websites more user friendly.

They have been told to speed up response time to opinions, complaints and proposals submitted by the public, and to do so within seven to 15 days.

In a document published yesterday, the State Council also stressed the importance of information being up to date.

Departments are also being encouraged to engage with the public through social media, such as microblogs and messaging services, such as WeChat, and to work closely with media outlets.

Their websites should also consider translation options, should there be adequate technical support, the document said.

To pool resources and improve efficiency, county and township governments, the two grassroots administrative levels in China, should merge with larger government departments, it said.

The document also said that these websites would be subject to assessment.

Chinese authorities have had an increasing Internet presence since the central government went online in 2006.

According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, there were about 30,000 government websites — defined by having domains ending with gov.cn — in 2010. All central government departments and provincial governments have their own websites as do 98.5 percent of city governments and about 85 percent of county governments.

Verified government accounts on the four top online platforms in China — Sina, Tencent, People.com.cn and Xinhuanet — totaled about 258,700 by the end of 2013.

However, there have been complaints.

The State Council document said too many government websites presented out-of-date information and appeared “numb” to public petitions.


 

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