China ensures citizens' right to know: white paper

Practical measures are taken to ensure citizens' right to know and right to be heard in China, says a government report on the country's human rights progress in 2012 issued Tuesday.

With the Regulations on Government Information Disclosure taking effect in May 2008, the country's system for government information disclosure has basically taken shape, says the report, released by the Information Office of the State Council, or the Cabinet.

In 2012, a total of 97 departments of central government publicly disclosed their budgets, 98 made public their final accounts, and 98 disclosed their expenses on official receptions, vehicles and overseas trips, says the report.

Besides taking the initiative to disclose government information, government organs also make public relevant information upon requests from citizens in accordance with relevant regulations, it adds.

Furthermore, to safeguard online information security and protect citizens' legitimate rights and interests, China's top legislature approved the Decision on Strengthening Online Information Protection in December 2012.

"The Internet has become an important channel for citizens to exercise their rights to know, participate, be heard and supervise," says the report.

By the end of 2012, microblog users in China reached 309 million.

According to a survey of China's top 10 websites, each day more than 3 million forum messages and news comments are posted online, while over 200 million messages are posted and forwarded by microbloggers.