China says government to be more open

BEIJING – China says it will be more open about the often secretive workings of the government and ruling Communist Party.

However, senior propaganda official Wang Chen said Wednesday that strict controls over the Internet would remain in place.

Wang said China will open up more by expanding the use of government spokespeople, expanding the overseas reach of state media, and refining the use of microblogs to interact with the public.

China polices the web rigorously to block pornographic or politically sensitive information, as well as blocking major social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.