Most Chinese unhappy with government websites

BEIJING - Nearly 80 percent Chinese in a survey said they were dissatisfied with government websites as they lacked useful information.

Of the 450,000 people surveyed from June to November, only 15.8 percent were satisfied with the websites, while 78.5 percent were not, said a study by the China Software Testing Centre (CSTC).

The main complaints were “lack of information” and “irrelevant information,” Wang Kai, vice general manager of E-government Development and Research Centre under CSTC, told Xinhua Friday.

The survey questions were posted on the news portal people.com.cn and qq.com, a leading gateway.

The CSTC study covered the websites of 73 central government departments, 31 provincial governments, autonomous regions, municipalities, the administrations of 300 prefectures and 448 districts, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

“The research showed some government websites failed to provide useful information to help people handle their daily business,” Wang said.

Only 24 percent of the websites allowed public interaction and 14.5 percent permitted downloading and submission of application forms online.

The survey showed that the government websites provided little information on education, social insurance, employment, medical care and housing.

In addition, only 32.8 percent of the government departments posted their financial reports on their websites.

The CSTC ranked the websites based on transparency, efficiency and interactivity.

Among the central government departments, the commerce ministry ranked first while the State Administration of Civil Service ranked last. Among the provincial governments, Beijing ranked first, followed by Guangdong and Shanghai, while Gansu province was the last.