Website makes life easy for citizens

Changsha has been named one of 2016's most advanced cities in online administration systems by the China E-governance Council, a leading research organization in the field.

Since 2016, Changsha e-government management bureau has been building its official website as an open and quick information platform to meet people's demands for government transparency and to provide a highly efficient tool for online administration.

According to a spokesman for the city government, in terms of information transparency, the website in 2016 has published over 100,000 items of information covering different areas of government projects, from trade policy to civil welfare.

It has also released more than 2.5 million pieces of information on administration to boost the efficiency of government services, the website has made a leap in progress in optimizing its online processing functions.

It has created separate segments on the website for 15 services with the largest volume of demand, including applications for residential permits and services for graduates' startups.

The city has also made online procedures clearer for users, including clarified instructions, lists of required documents and clearer charging rates.

"A few years ago I needed to run to the office for my business registration, but now I can simply finish all the procedures online," said Liu Yehuan, a young entrepreneur. "All the procedures, guidelines and application forms can be found on the website."

Changsha has also expanded the categories of services it has on the website from tax and business regulations to real estate.

During 2016, the online service has sorted 2.5 million cases and made public information on 303,000 entities.

While focusing on upgrading the website, Changsha is also keeping up with trends in the mobile age of social media. It has registered its weibo, or micro-blog account, a mobile feed and developed its own app so citizens can track the progress of their dealings and search for information on their phones.

Changsha e-government management bureau is aiming to build a sharing platform for data. So far the website has revealed information on companies from 11 lines of work.

Yi Shijun, director of the bureau, said: "In the near future, Changsha e-government will further improve the online platform and use information technology to optimize the functions of government administration."

Contact the writers at fengzhiwei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/29/2016 page15)