In an interview with Beijing Review reporter Tang Yuankai, Cai Wu, Minister of the Information Office of the State Council, gives an overall review of the development of the Chinese Government's information release system. Cai said press conferences and the spokesperson system are important means to promote the transparency of government and Party affairs and to meet the people's demand for information.

Beijing Review: At the end of last year, you told both Chinese and foreign media at a New-Year reception hosted by the Information Office of the State Council that the world should learn the reality in China. To achieve this, as a government supervising department for news release, the Information Office of the State Council has been endeavoring to construct an information release and spokesperson system at both state and provincial levels. Are you satisfied with this development?

Cai Wu: I'll admit the work is going quite smoothly, which is reflected in the following four aspects: First, the construction of the information release system is developing fairly rapidly. So far, there are more than 80 spokespersons in the nearly 70 departments under the State Council, including various ministries and state administrations directly under the State Council, and the system has also basically taken root in China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Apart from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, several other ministries have already begun to give regular press conferences. The National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Work Safety, for example, hold four press conferences in the Information Office of the State Council on a regular term each year. Second, both the quantity and quality of information releases have been greatly improved. The year 2005 alone saw over 1,000 press conferences around the country, covering politics, economy, culture, education and trade. Third, information releases have become more active and well-planned. Currently, the Information Office plays a coordinating, guiding and supervising role in information release. Fourth, progress has been made in the training of spokespersons. Since September 2003, the Information Office has sponsored four national spokesperson training courses, and nearly 60 training courses for spokespersons at three levels (the Information Office of the State Council, ministries and commissions under the State Council and provincial governments) have been organized. Currently, the three-level information issuing mechanism is going smoothly toward the set goals.

The smooth progress of China's information issuing system should be attributed to efforts in various fields. First, leaders at various levels attach great importance to the work and put it at a relatively important position in their overall work. Second, information issuing is playing a more and more important role in the Party and government's daily work. To issue authoritative information and answer questions concerned by the public through press conferences will help to timely deliver policies and guidelines of the government and the Party to the whole society. Press conferences are thus important means to promote the transparency of government and Party affairs and to meet the people's demand for information. Third, in press conferences, all kinds of important information is issued in a timely way, including the Party's guidelines and policies, the government's propositions and measures, and the country's economic development, which helps to effectively meet foreign media's demand for information about China, to respond to the international community's interest in our Party and government, and to deal with and refute attacks on China launched by anti-China forces.

We must notice that there is still a long way to go in the construction of China's information release system. For example, more efforts should be made to institutionalize the government's information issuing work. So far, half of the ministries and departments directly under the State Council have offered press conferences and activities alike, but there lacks a complete system. Some departments have appointed their own spokesmen, but no activities in this regard have been organized. Even if there are some, the amount of information is still far from meeting the media's demand. In addition, it's not easy to have heads of some government departments attend press conferences, as they are afraid of meeting and communicating with the media. In most cases, their refusal to our invitation results from their fear of making mistakes. Besides, our news issuing is not timely enough. Especially when it comes to some crucial incidents, authoritative information is often outpaced by back-alley news.

I believe that with the progress of socialist democracy and with China's further opening up to the outside world, the Chinese Government and various Party and government departments will pay more attention to the transparency of government and Party affairs and meeting the world's demand for information about China. Taking this opportunity, the Information Office of the State Council will continue to promote the establishment and improvement of the three-level news issuing system, so as to set up a system that is suited to China's national condition and falls in line with international practices as well.