Premier Wen Jiabao talked about increasing transparency while gaining credibility in his report on government work during the recent Third Session of the 10th National People's Congress. In the past couple of years, government organizations have sought to be more user-friendly, more accessible and more helpful.

The State Council Information Office (SCIO) is the architect of the growing news briefing and spokesperson system that was put in place to promote this change and help the government create a new image. In a recent interview, Minister Zhao Qizheng told China.org.cn how the system has grown and plans for its future.

China.org.cn: The spokesperson and press conference system is in place in every department of the central government and at the provincial level. What has SCIO's part been in this?

Zhao Qizheng: SCIO has had two tasks in this regard. One is the regulation and standardization of the press conferences held. SCIO alone gave 60 press conferences in 2004, 20 more than in 2003, which were highly welcomed by domestic and overseas press. Frankly, we have paid close attention to improving the quality of our press conferences because they should set the standard for other departments.

The second task was to introduce and promote the system. In late 2004 we were happy to announce to the public the first group of 80-odd spokespersons in the 70 departments under the State Council. In the same period, 20 provincial governments began offering press conferences with specially designated spokespersons. At that time we could say that the system has been basically established.

China.org.cn: This is an entirely new concept in China. Have you had feedback from government leaders and the media about its effectiveness?

Zhao: SCIO sponsors regular press conferences, inviting different government department heads to give presentations. We held only a dozen such press conference eight years ago, but the number came to 60 in 2004, showing the positive attitude of the department heads.

Years ago, it was really hard for us to persuade some of the department heads to mount the SCIO platform because they were so worried about making mistakes when answering questions, or even making a slip of the tongue. The situation has changed completely now, with more and more ministers, department heads and governors participating. The National Bureau of Statistics and General Administration of Work Safety hold four regular press conferences each year at SCIO.

We solicited opinions from the domestic and overseas press last year. The comments from the foreign press were surprisingly positive, with most of them saying we are precisely following international practices. They were satisfied with the time allotted for opening statements, about five to eight minutes, which is typical internationally. They commented that the short opening meant that the senior Chinese officials were open-minded and confident.

This is really a sharp contrast with the situation many years ago, when the hosts talked as long as 50 minutes to shorten the time for questioning while hiding their nervousness and embarrassment in front of the media.

The overseas press corps especially praised the live TV broadcasts and online reporting of the SCIO press conferences. They said that this practice was rarely seen even in Western countries. A German magazine's CEO once said to me that Chinese ministers are very brave to let their press conferences be broadcast live. He said that it indicates that the officials are confident and competent.

Some foreign journalists found it amazing that Chinese ministers could quote data and figures whenever necessary without help of written materials. An AP journalist in Beijing told me that most of the SCIO press conferences hit their headlines.

China.org.cn: Could you explain how government spokespersons decide what information to make public? Do they encounter any interference in their work?

Zhao: The spokespersons prepare with a process that we call a "production line." They must have a good command of the public information in their field and  a good understanding of what the press and the public are interested in.

The spokespersons themselves are senior officials who may attend the high-level meetings of their departments or local governments, so they know clearly what the organizations are considering and what policies they are making. From this information they select what should be brought to the public soon.

The spokespersons must also follow the interests of the media and the public to make sure that the information is responsive to their interests. The spokespersons should keep in contact with the media after the press conferences, remaining easily accessible to give them more information while acquiring feedback.

The selection of information for the public is a common practice of every government. It is not right to regard selection as interference. Generally speaking, a spokesperson shares identical views with his boss. He represents the government's stance, and is not speaking on his own behalf. The content and manner of an announcement are subject to consideration and approval by his chief.

As elsewhere, our spokespeople are supported by teams that prepare files, data and reports and have all these materials approved before the press conference.

China.org.cn: SCIO organizes the training of spokespersons at the central and local government levels. What does their training include? And are there established criteria for selection of spokespersons?

Zhao: The organizations choose their own spokespersons. They are usually leaders of a ministry or department's general office. Some ministries choose spokespersons from the Laws and Regulations Bureau or research center. Those at the provincial and municipal levels are usually their secretaries-general or vice secretaries-general.

The criteria for selection include a good general knowledge about his department and local affairs, the ability to speak logically and eloquently and feeling at ease in front of the media.

The SCIO has enhanced the training of spokespersons at the central, provincial and city levels. We have trained over 2,000 people in 16 provincial training programs. We are planning to launch more than 10 such programs this year to increase the number of trained spokespersons to 4,000.

The courses given are in relation to politics, mass media and, in particular, foreign journalism. There is psychological training in dealing with aggressive and provocative questions. How to organize a press release in times of emergency such as social disorder or natural disaster is also an important part of the training.

Teachers of such courses are senior government press officers, scholars of journalism and mass communications and senior managers with leading PR companies.

We have a slogan for spokespersons: expressing China's stance with an international voice. They should be true to facts and tell the situation in China honestly. At the same time, they should have good knowledge and the skills to employ internationally accepted ways of speech and avoid Chinese clichés.

China.org.cn: The media and the public have far greater access to authoritative and comprehensive public information now. However, government responses to some major events have still been pretty slow. Has this issue concerned you or leaders of other ministries?

Zhao: In fact, government departments now announce emergencies much much more promptly than they did before. You may have noticed that some emergencies are announced hours after they occur, which has won applause from both domestic and foreign journalists.

But I also have to admit that announcements have been delayed in a few emergencies for a couple days or even months. Those departments did not necessarily cover up or deliberately delay the report. There are many reasons for their slow action.

Sometimes the complexity of the case itself hinders the information flow. Now we especially encourage local officials to speak even when the situation is not clear. We told them just to say what they know. Sometimes the events occur in remote areas where local governments don't consider press releases serious matters. When the provincial government of the place where something happens is not clear about the situation, we cannot be more informed than the local authorities.

To cope with this situation, an information transmission network is being designed. With the network, local governments will be able to report to higher authorities in case of emergencies. We have drafted detailed rules for establishment of the network, which we expect to promulgate this year and send to provincial-level governments. The network will establish responsibilities and improve the efficiency of the reporting of emergencies.

The emergency response programs the State Council is creating also include sections on information disclosure. These ordinarily require organizations first to announce the crisis to the public and then precisely describe the crisis itself, its scope, the victims, the government's responses and so forth.

China.org.cn: Premier Wen Jiabao promised recently in his annual Government Work Report to the National People's Congress that the central government will improve the transparency of its work and enhance credibility. Does this provide impetus to your own work?

Zhao: Yes, it certainly does. That is also the reason why we will improve and promote the press release system, to increase the transparency of government affairs.

Although the three-tier press release system is now in place nationwide, it has not be implemented well in some regions. China still has some underdeveloped areas. In some provinces, the system is not well accepted or understood and is not taken seriously enough. Officials in these areas don't understand that transparency can be very helpful for government work.

For instance, when something happens, others speak but the government maintains silence. What can happen is that rumors spread, misleading the public while tarnishing the image of the government.

The fact is that the government's policy and crisis management are usually understood and supported by the people so long as the government brings the event and its management to light in time. The establishment of the press release system is very important because the system can boost the credibility of the government with the public and improve the relations between them, which are vital to building a harmonious society.

(China.org.cn by staff reporters Wandi Jiang and Chen Chao April 5, 2005)