Interacting with the public

In an intensive three-day session, more than 200 spokespersons from Communist Party of China (CPC) committees across the country were taught how to interact properly with the press and address topics of public concern. The curriculum included tailored workshops to teach the trainees what spokespersons are regularly expected to do: organizing press conferences, speaking with the media etc.

Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the CPC's 17th National Congress first proposed the spokesperson initiative in 2009, this was the first large-scale training program dedicated specifically to the new role in the CPC establishment. The move has been widely construed as officially kick-starting the Party's latest information-sharing mechanism, just in time for its 90th anniversary.

Thanks in part to its persistent emphasis on political and ideological work, the CPC has never lacked channels and platforms to communicate its ideas to the public. Given the Party's status in national politics, there is a legitimate public interest in information beyond its policy statements and announcements. Besides the usually abstract guiding principles found in papers and documents, people have an increasing interest in the CPC's daily operations, as well as how it perceives and intends to handle issues of major public concern.