China and the European Union (EU) on Friday officially launched
a cooperative project to help China enhance on-line government
services.
The EU-China Information Society Project, running from July
1,?2005 to June 30,?2009, is funded by both sides, with
US$18.75 million?from the EU and US$8.75 million from
China.
This project aims to promote Chinese economic and social reform
through information society development and to help bridge the
digital gap between developed areas and less developed ones, said
Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for information society and
media.
Five cities have been chosen as demonstrations of this project,
including Chengdu, in central China's Sichuan Province, Baotou, in
north China's Inner Mongolia and Yantai in east China's Shandong
Province.
Governments of the selected cities will improve on-line service
networks, such as emergency health response systems and public
service systems, said Reding.
In the project, government officials will be trained with
advanced experience from the EU, she said.
The State Council Informatization Office (SCIO) and the EU
delegation of the European Commission, representing each side of
the government, are taking charge of the project.
In China, 96.1 percent of government departments at the state
level and 81.3 percent of local governments have started portal
websites, according to a recent report released by the SCITO.
However, most of the websites lag behind in terms of on-line
services and lack public participation, said Zhang Xianghong,
senior vice president of a consulting company under the China
Center for Information Industry Development (CCID).
"Participation is the real goal of e-government," said
Reding.
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(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2006)