More than 45,000 government websites have been set up in China amid growing awareness of promoting information transparency, official figures showed.

Websites had become an important platform for governments at various levels to disclose information and interact with the public, said Lu Shiche, chairman of China Information Industry Association at a forum here Sunday.

China initiated the government website construction campaign in 1999. The Ministry of Defence is the latest ministry to open its official website. In the three months after its opening on Aug. 20, total visits hit 1.25 billion.