China will continue promoting an open government by improving responses to public concerns and ease public access in 2017, according to a document issued by the State Council on March 23.

Open governance is helpful to economic growth and reform, it said.

Senior officials were asked to participate in policy briefings and news conferences to explain economic policies, especially fiscal, financial, and employment policies, to the public and respond to criticisms in a timely and precise manner.

Information on economic policies such as cutting taxes and administrative fees, major construction projects, public resource allocations and public-private partnerships should be opened, the document said.

Opening of information concerning reforms was emphasized, such as administrative reform, state-owned companies’ business, agricultural supply-side reform and fiscal management reform, it said.

More efforts should be made to open information about supervision on consumer products quality, especially quality of food and drugs, covering fields including national laws and regulations, national standards, violation records, black lists, and check results.

Work on information openness in environmental protection should move forward. Regular news conferences on environmental protection should be held, and priority should be placed on releasing information about measures dealing with smog and water contamination. Investigations into crucial environment issues should be open according to law, it said.

In addition, the document asked to open the government’s response to proposals and suggestions made by national lawmakers and political advisers. As for major incidents, it asked authorities to publish official responses within five hours and hold a news conference within 24 hours.