Henan refutes claim petitioners being obstructed

The government of Central China's Henan province on Wednesday refuted a news report that accused local officials of obstructing petitioners.

The news report, published by Economic Observer on April 14, said hundreds of officials from city and county governments had been deployed in front of a hotel in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, to prevent petitioners from gaining access to anti-graft inspectors.

The inspectors were dispatched on March 28 from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-corruption agency, to gather information on local officials.

The provincial government announced on Wednesday that the channel between the public and the inspectors is "clear", and that the government had received 2,553 petitioning letters through the inspectors.

In those letters, petitioners complain about a number of problems, including land seizures, forced demolitions and delayed payments. The provincial government has urged the city governments to deal with the problems as soon as possible, according to a report from Xinhua News Agency.