Foshan officials will establish Net spokesmen

By Zheng Caixiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 08:34

GUANGZHOU: Foshan city government officials are urging relevant departments to further improve the Internet spokesperson system to help handle complaints and questions from the growing number of netizens.

According to a new regulation, every government department will establish an Internet spokesperson group that will include at least five employees.

"The Internet spokespersons will be responsible for analyzing, answering and replying to all the questions from netizens," said Shang Xuebing, deputy director of the publicity department under the Foshan Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The reply rate and the degree of satisfaction from netizens will become two major indicators evaluating the work of the Internet spokespersons, Shang said.

Setting up Internet spokespersons will help bring grassroots-level problems to the city's executive level, said Sun Jugao, director of the Internet management section under the publicity department.

More than 100 government departments, organizations and enterprises in the city will be required to set up Internet spokespersons in the following months.

And the Internet spokesperson system also will cover township government and village committees in the future, Sun added.

More than 20 government departments so far have established their Internet spokesperson groups in the Pearl River Delta city.

Guo Weiqing, a professor from Guangzhou-based Sun Yatsen University, said the move is of "great significance."

"It has demonstrated the more open attitude of the government departments toward the large number of netizens," Guo said.

In another development, a netizen posted a note on the Internet, complaining that a sub-branch of the industry and commerce administration in Shaoguan in the northern part of Guangdong had broken rules in handling a local advertisement violation case last month.

After Hu Yanni, a staff member from the Guangdong provincial industry and commerce administration, read the note, she quickly reported the case to relevant administration leaders. They immediately launched an investigation and ordered the sub-branch to amend its ways.

Peng Haibin, deputy director of the administration, said the establishment of Internet spokespeople will help further raise the administration's reputation and increase contact with the netizens.