Weibo transforming public affairs participation

Microblogs, known in China as weibo, have become a platform for many Chinese to voice their concerns and participation in public affairs. Wu Haojun tells us how Weibo has transformed the information channels between netizens and the government.

Like hundreds of millions of Chinese netizens, Wang Qingwen too runs a microblog. The difference? He does it as a job for a government agency.

Wang Qingwen, Beijing Municipal Administration Commission, said, "The first thing I do everyday when I come into office is to check netizens' messages to us and reply as soon as possible. Since the microblog was set up, we have already solved close to 700 cases submitted to us through Weibo by netizens. "

The Beijing Municipal Administration Commission was one of the early pioneers in the circle of official microblogs set up by the more adventurous government agencies, to harness the rising popularity of the twitter-like service.

With over 200,000 fans already and rising by the minute, Wang 's weibo is as popular as any official microblog on the internet. He says it's all about the interaction.

Wang Qingwen said, "For example, last winter, some residents from the suburbs of Beijing wrote to us about problems of garbage burning on the microblog. We inquired into the matter first by asking about the details through Weibo. When the matter was eventually resolved, the netizens were very satisfied."

There are an estimated 25 thousand government microblogs on China's Weibo sites. And 20 thousand more run by individual government officials. Hailed as a fast and reliable gauge of public opinion, Weibo now surely has the government's full attention.

A public debate on China's air quality eventually prompted the Ministry of Environmental Protection to require the country's major cities to publish daily reports on PM2.5.

And in September this year an alleged experiment initiated by an American researcher involving feeding Chinese children genetically modified rice, caught the attention of China's Weibo users.

Wang Hui, general director of Beijing Information Office, said, "Weibo has created a platform for government officials to better understand what citizens are thinking and what they really need. This bottom-to-top information transmission channel is innovative and will become a new trend for government officials to provide better services to the public."

Wu Haojun said, "There are an estimated 250 million microbloggers in China. Most of the time, Weibo remains a platform for daily rambles and emoticons. But users all know that participation in public affairs is just a few clicks away."