China is tightening up training of government spokespeople, hoping to perform better in the reform of opening government affairs to the public via a transparent news release system.

Though China's spokesperson system, spearheaded by Foreign Ministry spokespersons, has opened an important information channel for the public since it started in 1983, spokespeople only showed up on diplomatic and other important political occasions.

Experts point out that what the spokespeople publicized in the past usually had no direct connection with people's daily life and most of the government departments lacked a regular news release system.

After the outbreak of SARS this spring, Chinese senior leaders have reiterated the importance of opening information about government affairs and increasing administrative transparency, which asks for a comprehensive news release system with professionally trained spokespeople.

China initiated the first stage of a special training program for spokespeople from Sept. 22 to 26 this year, involving 100 spokespeople from 66 central government departments. Nearly 80 spokespeople from provincial-level governments are currently receiving training at the second stage of the program.

South China's Guangdong Province, one of the country's first regions open to the outside world, began to experiment with the spokesperson system in 15 provincial departments in 1999 and has promoted it into more departments and city governments since then. Currently, it has formed a mature operation mechanism within the province, after withstanding the SARS crisis.

Beijing called on all municipal government departments to establish a spokesperson system at the beginning of this year, with each department having one head appointed as spokesperson. The regular news releases during the SARS period in Beijing helped deliver timely information to the public and enhance their confidence in conquering the epidemic.

Currently, spokespersons from the public security departments and other government sectors in Beijing have launched new channels for local media and residents to see related government policies and decisions.

Shanghai also designated 24 spokespeople for departments under the municipal government in April 2002, and assigned two spokespeople for its provincial-level government this June. The two people are obligated to host in turn a news conference every other week on the government's major policies, decisions and latest work arrangements.

Jiang Lan, one of the two municipal government spokespersons who is attending a national training program for spokespeople, said, "Our first 10 conferences have attracted 80 to 90 home and overseas media organizations every time. The atmosphere is quite active and we usually answered 15 to 20 questions by reporters at each conference."

Citizens and foreigners could become better aware of the government's stance on many problems and its work progress through the spokesperson system, which would facilitate their supervision over the government's administration, Jiang said.

Currently, Sichuan, Yunnan, Anhui, Fujian, Shandong, Henan and Jilin provinces as well as Chongqing Municipality are also actively setting up and implementing the spokesperson system.

The promotion of the spokesperson system among governments at various levels indicated that Chinese officials focused more on their communication with the public, said Du Gangjian, a professor with the State Administrative College.

Zhao Qizheng, director of the State Council Information Office, pointed out that timely publication of information was a due obligation and responsibility of the government. Governments of various levels should explore actively news release systems adapted to local conditions.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2003)