Premier Wen gives online interview at Xinhuanet, Gov't Portal

Profile: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao   

Premier Wen's Highlights

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) shakes hands with staffs of GOV.cn, the official web portal of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, and Xinhuanet.com, the online news service of Xinhua News Agency, in Beijing on Feb. 28, 2009. The two portals will jointly interview Wen, which will be shown live in both text and video. (Xinhua Photo/Fan Rujun) Photo Gallery>>>

    by Xinhua writer Li Huizi

    BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is scheduled to chat with Internet surfers at 15:00 Saturday on two state news portals.

    The central government website (http://english.gov.cn) and the Xinhua News Agency website (http://www.chinaview.cn ) will jointly interview Wen, which will be shown live in both text and video.

    One hour before the live webcast, more than 38,000 questions have been posted at the online forum at xinhuanet, ranging from employment to health care and everything in between.

    This will be the first online chat involving Wen and the public. It follows a brief online Q&A by President Hu Jintao in June last year.

    China's Internet population has dramatically changed the political landscape of the country. Both Hu and Wen said they personally spend time online to gauge public concerns.

    In January 2007, Hu, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, urged senior officials at a lecture attended by members of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, "to improve their Internet literacy and use the Internet well so as to improve the art of leadership".

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) waves to staff of GOV.cn, the official web portal of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, and Xinhuanet.com, the online news service of Xinhua News Agency, in Beijing on Feb. 28, 2009. The two portals will jointly interview Wen, which will be shown live in both text and video. (Xinhua Photo/Fan Rujun) Photo Gallery>>>

    According to the China Internet Network Information Center, in January, the number of Chinese netizens surpassed 300 million. That is 23.8 percent of the population, or the most web users in the world from any one country.

    Beijing-based Renmin University China Media College Vice President Yu Guoming told Xinhua that Chinese officials and scholars felt obliged to notice citizens online views as a way to learn about the social situation and people's thoughts.

    "Online opinions have become an indispensable part of public voices," Yu said. "The Internet offers the most convenient vent for the voices of common people, without any editing."

    "Conventional media usually convey only one kind of views but the Internet allows dissenting views as long as they are in line with laws," he said.