State Council Orders Issuance of Government Information Disclosure Regulation

The State Council announced July 26 that it had referred a draft government information disclosure regulation to the relevant agency for issuance. Neither the State Council nor any other Chinese government agency has released a draft of the measure, although China's WTO transparency commitments in effect require public release of draft regulations before final promulgation.

At a July 26 press conference, a State Council Informatization Office official said that the regulation would make the release of government information mandatory. The official did not define the term "government information" or discuss any other possible limits on disclosure that might be contained in the regulation. The official did not disclose which central government agency would issue the regulation, when it would be issued, or when it would take effect.

Such central government agencies as the Ministry of Land Resources and the State Food and Drug Administration have already adopted information disclosure measures, and the provincial governments of Hubei, Jiangxi, and Jilin, and the Shanghai and Guangzhou city governments, have also done so.