BEIJING - The People's Daily, China's flagship newspaper, on Tuesday said in an article that more Communist Party cadres should focus on skillfully communicating in cyberspace.

"Cyberspace performance reflects a cadre's all-around capability," the paper said in the article titled "How to speak in a micro blog era," urging officials to learn "how to speak" when communicating online.

Officials have to give up talking in bureaucratic cliches, and they should always tell the truth, according to the article.

Officials have to share information with the public in an equal way. "In the cyberspace, there is no rostrum, everyone is a speaker," it said.

Officials have to answer timely and accurately when questions are raised from Internet users. They are expected to better address concerns of the public through micro blog, said the article, also encouraging them not to shy away from answering thorny questions.

Micro blog has gained much popularity in China since 2010, attracting millions of users, including a large number of officials.

Officials' personal microblogs have turned into channels for dialogues with the public and helped the government to present a people-friendly image, the People's Daily article said.

Micro blog played a large role in facilitating public debate in the aftermath of the fatal bullet train collision on July 23. Internet users flooded major micro blog platforms, questioning the government's handling of the accident and offering condolences to the victims.