Shanxi province yesterday "blacklisted" five county-level governments for failing to respond to complaints and questions posted online by the public.

The move came as yet another confirmation of the government's emphasis on public supervision online.

Officials in the north China province yesterday said the blacklisted governments of Gujiao, Dingxiang, Xiaoyi, Jincheng and Jiangxian, have been urged to explain why they were unable to respond to inquiries posted on their web portals.

According to regulations, governments must respond to all queries or complaints posted on their websites within a month.

"The numbness and ineffectiveness of some local governments has left the public's queries unanswered, which has seriously damaged the image of the government," a statement from the Shanxi provincial government said.

An employee of the Jincheng government, who is responsible for updating officials with inquiries posted online by the public, said scrolling through all the messages "is not an easy task".

"It is wrong for the provincial government to blame us," the employee, who identified himself as Han, told China Daily on the phone.

"This is the first time the government has implemented such a strict rule for answering online queries and we are still unfamiliar with the system and how it works."

Han, however, admitted that local officials "don't take certain public queries and comments seriously, leave aside responding to them".

Zhou Yukun, a provincial-level official, said Shanxi was the first in the country to launch a large-scale campaign to respond to its public online.

Another official, who oversaw the campaign but did not want to be named, said the provincial government is very strict with local officials who fail to respond to public queries and complaints posted online.

Ren Jin, a professor with the Beijing-based National School of Administration said: "State leaders are obviously taking the online community more seriously than ever before."

"Online campaigns and protests by the public are important for justice, as long as they are more informative than judgmental," said Li Qihong, a judge from the Biyang county in Henan province.

Source: China Daily