Internet and governance in China

The Internet is influencing governance in China - in most cases for the better. The impact the Internet is having on governance can be gauged from an event on Tuesday, small in scale but huge in significance. The media center of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China organized online discussions between CPC delegates and netizens, which showed how important a channel the Internet has become for the Party to solicit people's opinions.

In 1997, only 1,500 websites were operating on the Chinese mainland. Today, there are about 2.5 million. More than 388 million Chinese surf the Internet on their mobile phones, accounting for 72.2 percent of the total netizens' population in China. And on average an Internet user stays online for 2.8 hours a day.

Few people could have foretold the Internet's influence on governance in China 15 years ago. Almost all governments, from the central to county levels, across China now have their own websites and regard the Internet as the most efficient medium to disseminate information and seek feedbacks from the people.