The government will be more open and transparent in delivering information and news about China to the outside world, a top official in charge of media affairs vowed on Thursday.

Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, extends greetings to guests attending a New Year reception in Beijing on Thursday.

Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, made the remarks at a New Year reception attended by nearly 400 guests, including representatives of major news organizations, spokesmen from government agencies and diplomats stationed in Beijing.

"In the coming year, the office will constantly enhance communication with the media both at home and abroad to make China's voice heard in an accurate, objective and comprehensive manner," he said.

The disseminating of news from China markedly improved in 2009, and the management of Internet information was standardized, he noted.

Meanwhile, "a series of events like the Fourth US-China Internet Industry Forum initiated by the office have helped deepen international understanding and cooperation," he added.

"Now foreign media pay more attention to China and report more objectively on the country's changes and developments from varied perspectives," he said.

They are playing an important role in promoting understanding between China and the international community, he said.

Ian Williams, senior China correspondent at the Beijing office of the National Broadcasting Company, said he found it a lot easier now to report from the Chinese mainland.

"The communication between the foreign media and the government here is definitely getting better and the government is more prepared in facing the media," he told China Daily.

"I've seen great progress during my eight-year stay here by the Chinese government to enhance the free flow of information," Levent Ulucer, Beijing bureau chief of Turkey's One News Agency, said.

He also said that foreign media should respect the laws and regulations of the country while reporting here.