China's e-government campaign has been faulted for failing to offer efficient public access and enough useful information, a national review has found.

"Despite the surging number of government websites, the depth of published information and scale of public services are far from enough," said Wang Youkui, assistant director of the China Software Testing Center.

Its parent institution, the China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID), conducted the 2009 government website appraisal.

Only about 75 percent of government websites have been used by citizens, according to a survey conducted by People.com and the CCID.

Less than half of those interviewed have accessed information and resources on government websites, the survey found.

"Users' level of satisfaction is low because of low awareness of the websites and the shortage of information and services," said Luo Hua, vice president of People.com website.

China's e-governance has developed since 2002 and ranked No 65 on the UN e-Government Readiness Index in 2008, with Sweden topping the list and South Korea the leader in Asia.

China has 32 provincial government websites, 74 ministerial websites and 333 municipal government websites.

"The major challenge for the governments is to set up their websites to serve the public and make the sites easy for them to access information," said Wang Angeng, a member of the Advisory Committee for State Informatization.

Some websites were praised for their user-friendly and innovative methods for serving businesses and the public.

The Ministry of Commerce, topping the list of ministerial websites, has developed more than 4,000 subsidiary websites and prioritized the website as the first source for information release.

The Beijing municipal government website has interacted with local residents with 140,000 e-mail replies.

Guangzhou is the first local government to publish the fiscal budget of its 114 departments.

"The transparency of the Guangzhou government enhances its accountability among the public," Wang said.

Fewer than 10 percent of government websites publish their budget reports, he said.

"Some governments are unwilling to do so because they fear that problems will be revealed in their work," he said.

For example, when the Zhengzhou government publicly revealed the money and accounting for its dog management office, anger was ignited over how very little was spent on services to dog owners.

"Openness of government work is a master key to solve all sorts of problems," said Xu Zhengxian, deputy director of the administrative office of the Hunan provincial government.

"It cures corruption, clears doubts of conflicts and is an efficient and fair approach for all citizens," Xu said.

Yu Guoming, vice president of the Journalism School at Renmin University of China, said at a press conference recently that the government, as the manager and tutor to the public Internet life, should set up platforms and establish fair and effective rules and safeguard them.

"Quick responses, transparency and genuine concern are keys to answering public opinions in the Internet era," he said.

Shen Jian, 29, a sales manager in Zhengzhou, who started to use government websites five years ago, has found that announcements and regulations posted on the websites are useful.

"But the websites of bodies affiliated to the government have less information. Interaction between the government and the public should also be encouraged," Shen said.

(China Daily January 13, 2009)