The central government’s official website started a new column, Ministers’ Voice, aimed at interpreting policies and addressing people’s concerns.

The column is on the homepage of the government website and as of now, eight leading officials have responded to major concerns.

The topics are all close to people’s lives, including prevention and treatment of air pollution, business system reform and the results of replacing the business tax with a value-added tax(VAT).

During this year’s first State Council executive meeting on Jan 4, Premier Li Keqiang urged the heads of all State Council departments to actively respond to public concerns. The day after the meeting, he urged related departments and local authorities to actively respond to issues such as air pollution and to explain the situation based on reality.

This is not the first time that Premier Li called on ministers to respond to public concerns. As early as 2013, just as he took office, during a national conference on clean government, he vigorously promoted government transparency and sharing information on government affairs.

During the two sessions last year, the Premier urged ministers to actively respond to public concerns. Thirty-four ministers stopped in the ministers’ aisle in the Great Hall of the People and answered questions from the media, which became a spotlight of the two sessions.

Premier Li has repeatedly stressed that one important symbol of a modern government is to respond to people’s expectations and concerns in a timely manner. The Premier urged governments at all levels to responded to issues affecting public interests, market expectations and public emergencies in a timely and truthful manner.

“Expectation management plays an important role in a market economy. Leading officials from all State Council departments should attend press releases at appropriate time to provide a stable expectation to society,” the Premier said.