A 'press hall' was opened on Wednesday by Shenzhen municipal
government at the Citizen's Center for the distribution of news
releases, a spokesman from the governmental information office said
Thursday.
The municipal health bureau was the first to make use of the
press hall Wednesday to announce the discharge of Shenzhen's only
human bird flu patient from hospital.
The first press conference held in the
press hall on Wednesday, by Shenzhen Municipal Health Bureau,
announced that the city's only human bird flu patient was
discharged from the hospital on the same day.
The new facility, located at room No.1036, Section B of the
Citizen's Center, will be used to announce major city news
especially in the event of disasters, epidemics, accidents,
consumer issues and the adoption of new polices and
regulations.
"The public have the right to know when something related to
their lives happens," said Chen Jing, director of the municipal
information office. "It's part of our ambition in building a
transparent government."
All information released at the press hall will also be
available on the government website www.sz.gov.cn at the same
time.
On the same day the municipal information office released the
names and contact numbers of 59 spokespeople and 88 news assistants
representing 59 bureaus or departments around the city.
"A modern and mature government should be willing to talk to the
public and understand the importance of effective communication,"
Mayor Xu Zongheng had said last month at a training course designed
to assist local officials to learn communication skills.
"To a transparent government, journalists are not enemies,
subordinates, students or friends but challengers," said Ma Hong, a
bureau director from the State Council's information office at the
training course.
In early July more than 120 spokespeople and news assistants
from Shenzhen attended the five-day training session offered by the
State Council information office, professors from Peking, Tsinghua
and Fudan universities.
The spokesperson system was established in Shenzhen in 1985. A
total of 40 spokespeople representing 38 local bureaus and
departments were named in 1998.
(Shenzhen Daily August 4, 2006)
