Prof. Wang Xixin at Peking University Law School said the number of state secrets will decline as fewer levels of government departments have the power to classify information as a state secret.
"It will also boost government transparency," Wang said.
Local officials often use the excuse "state secrets" to avoid answering inquiries from the public properly.
After the amended law takes effect in October, governments under the county level will have to respond to public questioning with more openness and without the power to classify information as a state secret, Wang said.
According to the amended law, there will more complicated but standardized procedures to classify information a state secret which will eliminate "random classification."
The amended law also grants more responsibility to classification departments and units, which will be penalized if they do not properly classify information.
