1st Ld-Writethru: China to make gov't affairs more transparent: premier

The Chinese government will increase openness of its affairs and respond to public concerns by various means including the Internet and cloud computing, Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday.

"Any information (of government affairs) that can be made public should be released... Openness shall be a standard of practice while the lack of it an exception," Li told a press conference after the conclusion of China's annual parliamentary session.

More information needs to be made public if it concerns the issues that involve public interests and balance sheets of public finance, he said. "We should make the government information as easily accessible to our people as one click away."

He also promised that the government will upload as much information as possible to the Internet, saying cloud computing technologies would be adopted to supervise how power is used.

The government should also make timely response to public concerns, he said.

If the people have questions or doubts about certain policies, the government has the duty to make explanations and even revise the policies by drawing reasonable suggestions from the public, he said.

Ministers in the State Council, or the cabinet, were asked to be more proactive to talk to the press during the just concluded "two sessions" and answer questions straightforward instead of waving hands and taking a quick leave, he said.

"We will continue to welcome the supervision from the public including the media," he said. Endi