The State Council Information Office (SCIO) will make fresh
moves this year to set up a three-tier government news-release
system, Minister Zhao Qizheng told China Daily in a New
Year's interview.
The three-tier system will feature spokespersons for the State
Council, all central government ministries and provincial-level
governments, Zhao said in an exclusive interview.
The SCIO has mapped out a development plan and detailed measures
to help install information dissemination mechanisms based on
comprehensive research, Zhao indicated.
As part of the plan, officials will strengthen guidance on the
effort nationwide and train more spokespersons from ministries and
provincial governments this year to help increase the number,
quality and authority of news conferences at the three levels.
"On top of all, we'll strive to see that SCIO press conferences
are more frequent, standardized and focused on major national
policies and tasks,'' Zhao said. "We hope to better address the
needs of the domestic and foreign media, and ensure that press
conferences are well planned and timely so that news value and
reach are enhanced.''
Last year, the information office held 41 press conferences,
addressing domestic and foreign reporters on important issues such
as the renminbi exchange rate, SARS (severe acute respiratory
syndrome) and Taiwan.
"(But) I'm not satisfied,'' Zhao said. "The number (of news
conferences) is too small.''
As China's domestic policies attract increasing global
attention, it is an "imperative task," the minister said, to
increase the frequency and quality of the government's information
dissemination efforts.
For instance, a decade or two ago, the valuation of the renminbi
would not have been such a hot subject in the world as it is
now.
"The global demand for Chinese information has increased
greatly," Zhao noted.
Nor can China, or any country, seek a favorable international
environment and global understanding for itself by relying on just
the domestic media, he acknowledged.
He called on government information officers to treat
journalists "decently".
Officials do not have the right to consider "journalists your
subordinates, students, friends or enemies," he said. "They are
your challengers -- like your challenger in a tennis game."
Journalists tend to raise pointed questions because that's what
their profession is supposed to do, the minister stressed.
In the meantime, more frequent and substantial government news
releases can appeal to the public interest, improve government
transparency, and ensure China's stability and social progress, he
said.
Efficient release of important or breaking-news events and major
government decisions can also help avoid rumors, he said.
In a sign of things to come, Xinhua reported on Friday that
police departments nationwide will begin issuing news releases and
meeting with journalists to promote transparency.
Public security authorities at the provincial level and the
ministry will hold press conferences once a month; and police at
municipal level, once every fortnight. Police are also expected to
hold press briefings to respond to breaking news.
Zhao said the SCIO's main task is to present a picture of the
true China to the outside world.
The minister was appointed to his current post in April 1998
after serving as vice-mayor of Shanghai, China's economic hub, for
about seven years. He is a native of Beijing and graduated from the
Physics Department of the Chinese University of Science and
Technology in 1963.
An efficient public news-release system is necessary, contrary
to some local governments' belief that they don't need the system
because of the limited number of foreign journalists staying in
their provinces.
Domestic journalists' demand for government information should
also be treated as important, he stressed.
Providing timely public information access is a responsibility
of the government, and it should not be bestowed as a favor to the
people, said Zhao.
Regular press conferences first started in China in 1983 by the
Foreign Ministry to explain the Chinese Government's stance and
policies concerning major domestic and foreign issues. Other
ministries, including the National Bureau of Statistics, followed
suit.
The outbreak of SARS last spring greatly enhanced the
improvement of the mechanism. To date, almost all central
government ministries and more than a dozen provincial and
municipal governments, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong,
have established a news-release mechanism.
The office started training spokespersons for ministries and
provincial governments in September 2003, and two training programs
have been completed for 177 new spokespersons.
The programs, using case studies and practical exercises,
invited senior government spokespeople and specialists from
universities to give lectures on news releases, public relations
and language skills.
"Because of the limited understanding of China by foreigners,"
Zhao said, "we are willing to establish partnerships with some
overseas media, and we hope to see better, objective and fair
foreign media reports on China".
He also noted the Chinese media industry is changing to better
satisfy the needs and interests of its audiences and is paying more
attention to marketing and profits following China's WTO entry.
Domestic media "have been playing an increasingly big role in
`supervising' the work of the government in the last few years,"
Zhao observed in encouragement.
While promoting the establishment of large domestic media
groups, Zhao said, China has already opened the business operation
of websites and distribution of print-media products to foreign
investors.
(China Daily January 5, 2004)