An order from China's State Council released Monday emphasizes the importance of having a more interactive and efficient website to all government departments and agencies.
According to the cabinet, government agencies should make their websites more user-friendly and up-to-date and should be subject to assessment to determine their effectiveness in serving as a medium for the public to air their concerns.
The document also stated the need for government departments' websites to work closely with media outlets in order to get updated on news as well as to have faster means of disseminating important information especially in times of disasters and calamities.
Transparency as well as a quick response time of 15 days or less, depending on the gravity of the opinions, complaints and proposals submitted by the public, should also be upheld in the administration of the websites.
As of 2010, there are around 30,000 Chinese government websites (those with domain ending in gov.cn) which include central government departments as well as provincial governments, based on the data from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Agencies were also urged to get involved with social media, particularly microblogs and messaging services such as Sina Weibo and WeChat to provide a quicker means of communication with the public.
However, despite having about 258,700 verified government online accounts in the leading online platforms in China in 2013, complaints on unresponsive agencies and outdated websites still emerge.
The State Council's order also suggested that government sites should consider installing a translation option should technical support be available.