Guidelines aim to stop public funds from being wasted on e-governance

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS ABOVE THE COUNTY LEVEL should each have one official website that is open, informative, convenient to use and free from commercial advertisements, according to the guidelines on government websites released by the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Thursday. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Saturday:

The new guidelines have come at a time when many government-run websites and apps have failed to update their content for years due to the lack of maintenance. Some of them, especially those below the county level, were no more than a whim or vanity project. That is why the guidelines aim to limit the number of government websites in this way.

Designed to enhance the interaction between civil servants and citizens and encourage public participation in local governance, many websites and apps end up updating their content on a yearly basis or reposting tasteless local news. Instead of being praised for bridging the distance between governments and the public, they often come under fire for being nothing more than "zombie websites".