The Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily recently conducted a survey on government websites among 1,110 members of the public. It showed that 86 percent people have visited such websites, and 61 percent were left dissatisfied with the experience.

According to Xinhua.net, gov.cn first of all has adopted Chinese domain names such as "中国政府网.政务", "中国政府.政务", "国务院.政务", "国务院办公厅.政务" and "中央人民政府门户网站.政务". Net users will be able to visit gov.cn directly through these Chinese domain names.

However, do the public get the information they need from government websites? Which websites are popular with the public?

The Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily recently conducted a survey on government websites among 1,110 members of the public.

86% have visited government websites

According to the survey, 86 percent of respondents have visited government websites. However, only 28 percent were frequent visitors, while 57 percent were occasional visitors.

From these results, Sun Songtao, director of the management center of Shanghai.gov.cn, concluded that the development of government websites is not meeting the expectations of the public and is not in line with the work of government, although government websites are attracting more attention than in the past.

"At present, our government is in a period of transition from traditional to modern practices. The public is not yet in the habit of getting information or services through visiting government websites, demonstrating a need for the media and other relevant groups to provide encouragement to the public," Sun said. "Public participation can help to identify existing problems and thereby help government websites to improve accordingly."

Doctor Ye Xing of the School of Management of Dalian University of Technology thinks it essential that government websites must provide timely updates of information on the web. For the time being some government websites offer only limited information. If additional on-line interactive services were offered, the page-viewing of government websites would increase substantially.

The survey also reflects this view. 32 percent of respondents agreed that government websites need to offer online interactive services to enhance communication between government and the public.

61% left dissatisfied by government websites

The survey showed that 68 percent of users access government websites in search of authoritative information on government work and policies; 32 percent are looking for information on relevant departments; 30 percent want to understand the functions and responsibilities of government departments, and 29 percent want to manage business with the government on-line.

Zhao Shuguang, director of Tsinghua Media Survey Lab, said, "Some files currently can't be made available to everybody. But if these files were released on the web, everyone could access the original articles of the files, helping to avoid distortion of the information provided."

However, 61 percent of people were still not satisfied with government websites and less than 7 percent expressed approval.

"It is a must that E-government gradually moves to the core of government systems," Sun Songtao said. "At present, because of institutional barriers, government websites find it difficult to drive government in the direction of E-government. In addition, there exists a problem of top-down management systems. In some areas, government websites are managed by publicity departments; in other areas, they come under the responsibility of the Information technology sector. This hinders the consistent development of government websites."

Suggestions offered to government websites in this survey:

33 percent: Government websites should offer more online interactive services to enhance communication between government and the public;

21 percent: Government websites should help the public improve their efficiency;

18 percent: Government websites should release timely information on government work or reform measures;

15 percent: Government websites should release information on emergencies, such as earthquakes or public crises;

12 percent: Government websites should increase functionality, in order to offer more services to visitors;

2 percent: Government websites should enhance safety management.

(China.org.cn by Ma Yujia December 17, 2008)