Online channel for public opinions expands with more messages

2017-04-25
english.gov.cn/Thepaper.cn

A program to seek public suggestions online on the annual government work report has received over 400,000 responses this year, according to official data on April 24.

Launched in 2014, the “Share your thoughts with the Premier” program got more suggestions in 2017 than in previous years, 2,071 of which were submitted to leaders of the State Council, with 101 supporting the government work report.

The program was led by the official website of the Chinese government (gov.cn), and joined by media and websites of State Council departments and local governments.

“Since 2014, gov.cn has received over 1 million messages. The program has become a significant channel for public expression,” said Wang Yao, deputy editor-in-chief of gov.cn.

Regarding public concerns such as high enterprise fees, housing prices, rebuilding of shantytowns and smog control, the government work report has given active responses.

Official data showed that on March 5, 2017, the day Premier Li Keqiang delivered the report at the plenary meeting of the National People’s Congress, saw a surge in messages — a total of 11,673 were received, making the day as recording the most messages in three years.

Chinese media receiving the most suggestions include gov.cn, toutiao.com and ifeng.com. The top three English language media in the program are china.org.cn, english.gov.cn and chinadaily.com.cn.

In a demographic breakdown, post-1970s and 1980s generations contributed the largest share of suggestions. And younger participants tended to leave shorter messages.

Workers and farmers are the largest occupational groups among the participants, contributing nearly 60 percent to the total.

Geographically, participants mainly come from Beijing, and Hebei, Heilongjiang, Shanxi and Shandong provinces. Net users in the Chinese capital, Beijing, submitted 12.34 percent of the total suggestions.