ISBN: 972-8924-02-X © 2005 IADIS
E-GOVERNMENT IN CHINA: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
Qiuyan Fan
University of Western Sydney
Australia
ABSTRACT
Governments around the world are embracing electronic government. China, like other countries, regards developing egovernment as a key strategy for ensuring their success in the 21st century. E-government has been on the Chinese
government agenda since the early 1990s. In order to achieve a successful e-government, it is important to assess how
prepared a society is for e-government. By examining the breadth and depth of national government services available
online, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of e-government maturity in China.
As of December 2004, the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) reported China had 94 million
Internet users and 10,260 websites registered under gov.cn. More than 80% of the departments and agencies of the
governments at national, provincial and local levels had a web presence by the end of 2004. However, e-government does
not happen just because a government puts up a website. The qualitative analysis and preliminary findings in this study
indicate that China’s e-government is still at an early stage of development. What actions does China need to take to
further improve e-government services? The paper goes beyond an interest in providing a snapshot of the state of China’s
e-government. It focuses on identifying the key issues in e-government development strategy.
Achieving e-government will require taking a citizen-centric approach and addressing the issues identified such as
building public awareness, trust and confidence in online delivery services, as well as bridging the digital divide. Chinese
leaders need to move beyond the earlier initiatives of “every agency must have a website” and provide a more innovative
strategy of e-government development to make the interaction between government and citizens (G2C), government and
business enterprises (G2B), and inter-agency relationships (G2G) more friendly, convenient, transparent, secure and
private.
KEYWORDS
E-government, readiness, websites, policy, China
1. INTRODUCTION
Governments around the world are embracing electronic government. Although there is no universal
definition, e-government is commonly understood as the use of information and communication technologies
(ICT) and particularly the Internet to achieve better government (Bonham, et al 2001). China, like other
countries, regards developing e-government as a key strategy for ensuring their success in the 21st century. Egovernment has been on the Chinese government agenda since the early 1990s. The Chinese government has
taken many measures to promote Internet use and e-government adoption such as the Government Online
Project launched in 1999, an Enterprise Online Project in 2000, and a Home Online Project in 2001. It has
been five years now after the government of China launched the Government Online Project in January 1999.
What has been happening? What progress has been made in the development of e-government in China? As
of December 2004, the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) reported that China had 94
million Internet users and 10,260 websites registered under gov.cn. As Chinese increasingly use the Internet
and the Internet is gradually incorporated into government affairs, it is important to outline the state of egovernment readiness. By examining the breadth and depth of national government services available online,
this paper provides a comprehensive overview of e-government maturity in China.
More than 80% of the departments and agencies of the governments at national, provincial and local levels
had a web presence by the end of 2004. However, e-government does not happen just because a government
puts up a website. According to the 2003 UN e-government survey of all UN member states, China was
0.416 in the overall E-government Readiness Index, just a little over the world average of 0.402, and 0.332 in
the Web Measure Index, below the world average of 0.351(UNDESA 2003). The Web Measure Index in the
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survey is used to assess the level of maturity or sophistication of e-government. It is apparent that China is
lagging behind most countries in terms of the level of sophistication of its government’s online presence. As
many analysts have pointed out, China’s e-government is still at an early stage despite the fact that China is
making every effort to promote e-government development. What actions does China need to take to further
improve e-government services? The paper goes beyond an interest in providing a snapshot of the state of
China’s e-government. It focuses on identifying the key issues in e-government development strategy as very
little literature to date has presented an in-depth analysis of the development of e-government in China.
2. OVERVIEW OF E-GOVERNMENT READINESS IN CHINA
In order to achieve successful e-government, it is important to assess how prepared a society is for egovernment. There is no universal standard for e-government readiness and the preconditions for egovernment will vary from nation to nation. However, government willingness and leadership are a
prerequisite for any and all e-government. The development of the Internet and e-government in China is
primarily a government-driven strategy. The government plays a crucial role in building a national
information infrastructure and developing an information economy. For example, in the early 1990s, the
Chinese government launched the Golden Projects to improve access to information infrastructure and to
promote the use of Internet, including:
• Golden Bridge -- a national public economic information communication network aims to connect
ministries and State Owned Enterprises and to build the infrastructure backbone over which other
information services will run.
• Golden Card -- an electronic money project, which aims at setting up a credit card verification scheme
and an interbank, inter-region clearing system.
• Golden Customs -- a national foreign economic trade information network project.
• Golden Macro -- a national economic macro policy technology system
• Golden Tax -- a computerized Tax Return and Invoice System Project
• Golden Gate -- a foreign trade information network aimed at improving export-import trade
management.
• Golden Enterprise -- an industrial production and information distribution system
• Golden Intelligence -- the China Education and Research Network (CERnet).
It goes without saying that the national information and telecommunication infrastructure in China would
have been impossible without government support. Like many developing countries, China has considered
the Internet a powerful tool for national development, economically and socially. The Chinese government
has taken many measures to promote the Internet use and e-society development. For instance, The
Government Online Project is initially encouraging agencies to create a website to release government
documents and their daily activities. By the end of 2000, more than 60% of government agencies had
established a web presence on the Internet via China’s 169/163 net. The project aims to put government
information online, increase transparency of government work, reduce office costs and encourage vendors to
do business with the government electronically. As of December 2004, 16326 domain names are on gov.cn
sectors. An Enterprise Online Project and a Home Online Project were launched in 2000 and 2001
respectively. These two projects are meant to further drive the uptake of online use and services. In July
2002, the then Premier Minister Zhu Rongji held a meeting with the Chinese vice president, Hu Jintao (now
president), the vice premier Li Lanqing, and other high ranking government leaders to pass the measures to
move forward the country’s e-government programme (Kable’s Electronic Government International 2002).
The Ministry of Information Industry, which assumes major responsibility for drafting policies for the entire
information industry, and many provincial governments set development of e-government as their top
priority in 2003. Lying behind all of these initiatives is political leadership, especially at central government
level. To coordinate the policymaking process or bypass bureaucratic rivalries, the State Council (the highest
organ of state administration) and its Leadership Small Group on National Informatization hold overall
authority. The Leadership Small Group, headed by a Premier Minister, is responsible for national strategies
and policy of information infrastructure and for co-ordination of major intergovernmental initiatives for
information and communications projects.
Apart from strong political leadership in e-government development, telecommunications infrastructure,
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adoption of the Internet and human resource development in a country are key readiness considerations.
Telecommunications infrastructure
China has built up a telecommunications networks centered around 22 optical cable lines and accompanied
by multiple means of communications networks such as microwave, satellite, telephone, mobile phone,
digital communications, and multi-media communications (Horvath 1999). The optical cable trunk line,
including eight horizontal and eight vertical trunk lines, totals 1.25 million kilometers and reaches all
provincial capitals and 70 percent of China’s big cities. The digital data communications network reaches 90
percent of the cities and counties throughout the country, and the public computer network covers 239 cities.
Approximately 13 percent of households throughout China have telephone access, with urban penetration
running at over 40% (Horvath 1999). The teledensity (the number of telephone lines per hundred people) had
reached 42% by the end of 2003. The number of telephone and mobile subscribers has reached 290 million
and 300 million respectively in June 2004.
Access to the Internet
China first linked up to the Internet in 1994 and since then it has developed rapidly. From 1997 to 2005,
Computer hosts, Internet users, domain names registered in the top level domain .cn, web sites and total
bandwidth capacity of leased international connections respectively increased by over one thousand percent.
(See figure 1).
Year
Nov 97
July 98
Jan 1999
Jan 2000
Jan 2001
Jan 2002
Jan 2003
Jan 2004
Jan 2005
Computer
Hosts
299,000
542,000
747,000
3,500,000
8,920,000
12,540,000
20,830,000
30,890,000
41,600,000
Internet Users
620,000
11,750,000
2,100,000
8,900,000
22,500,000
33,700,000
59,100,000
79,500,000
94,000,000
Domain Names
(.cn)
4,066
9,415
18,396
48,695
189,617
127319
179544
340040
432077
Web Sites
1,500
3,700
5,300
15,153
265,405
277,100
371,600
595,550
668,900
International
Bandwidth
18.64Mbps
84.64Mbps
143Mbps
351Mbps
2799Mbps
7597.5Mbps
9380Mbps
27216Mbps
74429Mbps
Figure 1. Internet growth in China (Source: CNNIC 1997-2005)
Eight large networks provide global Internet connectivity to over 500 other networks or Internet Service
providers (ISP), with three international outlets installed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The total
capacity of international bandwidth is 74429M. Each of these large networks has a specific function and
service. CERnet (China Education and Research), funded by government, was built up in 1995 to connect all
universities, high schools and primary schools, and other educational institutes. CSTnet (China Science and
Technology), funded by government, was established to link all scientific and technological research and
academic institutes. CHINAGBNnet, a national public economic information communication network, aims
to connect ministries and State Owned Enterprises. CHINAnet, run by China Telecom and UNInet, operated
by Unicom are commercial networks providing national data service and Internet service. The China
International Electronic Transaction Network (CIETNET) is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Trade
and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC). In 1999 China Netcom started to build CNCnet that links 15 cities
on the east coast. CMnet is a mobile telecommunication backbone network linking Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Tianjin, Nanjing and Hangzhou. It has 1130 Mbps of international bandwidth to support IP
telephone and Internet Service. Currently China Telecom, China Unicom, China Netcom, Ji tong Telecom
and China Mobile are authorised to supply nationwide commercial Internet service.
Internet use
User demographics
The number of Internet users has experienced exponential growth in recent years. Based on five recent
surveys by CNNIC, Chinese Internet users are characterised by the following:
• 60% are male.
• 58% are single.
• 80% are under 35.
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•
•
•
•
60% have a tertiary education.
70% have a monthly income less than US$250.
67% access the Internet from home.
50% spend about 12 hours/week online.
Most Chinese Internet users live in 5 highly developed big cities or provinces. Beijing, Guangdong and
Shanghai have led the country in numbers of Internet users most of the time since 1997 (CNNIC 1997-2005).
The top three occupations which use the Internet are students, IT professionals and staff working in foreign
or joint venture companies (CNNIC 1997-2005).
Usage patterns
The Internet is mainly used for e-mail and web browsing. China now has around 100 million e-mail accounts
(CNNIC 1997-2005). On average, Internet users receive 7 e-mails per week and send 5 e-mails per week.
The major reasons for going online are to seek information and learn computer science and other new
technologies. (See figure 2)
Looking up information: 95%
Using E-mail: 94%
Download software: 77%
Chat with others on Internet: 42%
Entertainment & Games: 35%
Using some new technique such as IP Phone and Internet Pagers 19%
E-business/ Internet Shopping: 15%
E-government: 3.5%
Figure 2. Reasons for using Internet in China as of Jan 2004 (Source CNNIC 1997-2005)
Sectoral adoption
The number of domain names has grown from 4066 in 1997 to 340040 in 2004. This means the Internet is
being increasingly adopted in all China’s sector. The top three sectors are COM, NET and GOV sectors as
shown in figure 3.
Year
Nov 97
July 98
Jan 99
Jan 2000
Jan 2001
Jan 2002
Jan 2003
Jan 2004
Jan 2005
AC
259
363
432
500
682
673
1728
666
682
COM
2131
6559
13913
38776
96221
99123
133796
140779
173649
EDU
325
414
531
731
1127
1354
1629
1915
2226
GOV
323
561
982
2479
4615
5864
7796
11764
16326
NET
370
657
1223
3753
13291
14045
20234
16189
20145
ORG
99
229
409
940
2596
2943
9587
7369
9415
ADDN
559
632
906
1516
3567
3317
4774
3286
15765
Figure.3. Distribution of Second-level Domains Under the .cn TLD (Source CNNIC 1997-2005)
Human resource factors
Adult literacy in China, defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 or over who can read and write,
was 86% of the total population in 2003, of which 92.9% was male and 78.8% were female. The total
number of students enrolled at the primary, secondary and tertiary level in China in 2000 is shown below.
• Primary education (million)
135.5
• Secondary education (million)
78.2
• Tertiary education (million)
4.1
The 2003 UN e-government survey shows that the average human capital index for the top 10 egovernment countries was 0.98, compared to 0.8 for China (UNDESA 2003). The human capital index used
here refers to a composite of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary
enrolment ratio (UNDESA 2003). In comparison with these top 10 e-government readiness countries, China
is lagging behind. It is widely recognised that the development of human resources is a major factor effecting
Internet diffusion. This is particularly the case with e-government, as its successful use requires new skills for
digital literacy. As Press (1996) points out, this is the toughest nut to crack. The solid base for these skills
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should be laid in primary and high school education. Currently the majority of the primary schools and high
schools in China do not have access to the Internet. At this early stage, it does not appear to have constrained
adoption of e-government services but it is of increasing importance. With the improvement of infrastructure
and the reduction of PC and access cost, the biggest obstacle to achieving e-government policy goals in
China will soon change from have-nots to know-nots.
3. THE EXTENT OF E-GOVERNMENT MATURITY IN CHINA
3.1 An e-government maturity model for analysis
Several general models stand out in the study of e-government. For instance, a conceptual framework for
understanding the various strategies for e-government services was developed by the DG Information
Society. The framework identifies two different strategies for improvement of services and illustrates the
correlation between process integration (back office) and service delivery (front office) (Top of the Web,
2003). The Web Measure Index, based on a theoretical Web Presence Measurement Model, is a quantitative
five-stage model (UNDESA 2003). The three phases of e-government model used in the E-government
Handbook for Developing Countries (InfoDev 2003) is designed to assist policymakers in devising their egovernment initiatives. For the purpose of this study, the Gartner Group’s Four Phases of E-government
Model (Gartner Group 2000) is adopted. The model provides details on the degree to which government
services and information are provided on line. These phases are not dependent on each other, nor need one
phase be completed before another can begin. It offers conceptually four ways to think about the goals of egovernment:
•
•
•
•
Providing greater access to government information
Enhancing interaction between government and citizens (G2C), government and business enterprises
(G2B), and inter-agency relationships (G2G)
Enabling citizens to effectively participate in policy and decision-making processes
Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of government.
The four phases include:
• Phase 1 - Web Presence
It provides a website to disseminate information about government and information generated by government
to the public.
• Phase 2 – Interaction
It involves citizens in the governance process by allowing them to submit their online comments on
legislative or policy proposals.
• Phase 3 – Transaction
It offers a transact website that supports business and individuals to conduct transactions with government
services online.
• Phase 4 – Transformation
It involves revolutionizing the process of government itself and reshaping relationships between
government, business and individuals.
(Source: Gartner Group 2000)
3.2 Data collection
The level of e-government activities across the nation was tested by logging on to the websites of Chinese
government departments and agencies.
The data for the analysis consisted of 56 government websites at the national level 180 websites at the
provincial level and 70 websites at the municipal level. Most of the websites were created in 2000 by the
early adopters and initiators of the Government online project. The websites of the major agencies serving
crucial functions of government were investigated in this study, including Education, Health, Transportation,
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Customs, Taxation, Economic Development, Administration, Foreign Affairs, Public Security, Agriculture,
Water Resources, Commerce, Industry, Legislative and Judicial offices.
In the analysis of the websites, features dealing with information availability, government service delivery
and public access and participation were examined, as summarized as follows.
Information
Availability
Service Delivery
Public Participation
Contact details (e.g. office phone number, office address, e-mail address)
Online publication (e.g. Report, Regulations and Policies)
Online database
Search capability
Links to external sites
Online downloading (e.g. downloadable forms)
Audio and video clips for relevant public information
Presence of transactional service
Online Payment Systems
Privacy and Security Features
Automatic email links to government agencies, Discussion Forum, Chat rooms, Area to
post comments and other online consultation facilities
3.3 Qualitative Analysis and preliminary findings
This section applies the conceptual model to assess the recent data about e-government development in China
and presents the results from an assessment of quality and usage of government service in China.
For the 206 websites investigated, 91% of the government agencies have published policies and
regulations while 85% have their daily activities and functions online. Ninety-eight per cent have contact
details online, 8.2% of agencies have a website with a searchable online database, 32% with a downloadable
capability, 81% with links to external sites, and 1.8% with audio or video clips for relevant information.
Just over three per cent of websites go further to allow users to pay fees and taxes or to apply for a licence
online. Some websites have a presence of transactional services but those services are not fully executable
and the flow of information is primarily one-way. For example, many websites offer online application
services (e.g. applying for a visa or ID card). However, those services normally require citizens to print out a
form and mail or take it to a government department to execute the service. No websites examined had any
form of privacy statement or security policy. Also, there are few online payment systems available on the
websites.
The degree of public participation has been very limited. Only less than 3% of websites actively engage
citizens in discussions of emerging policy issues and government activities and seek their views and
observations. Some 32% of websites have an area for citizens to post comments and 56% offer an email link
to government agencies but there is no response timeframe indicated for submitted forms/e-mails. No
government agencies and departments offer a choice of public policy topics online for discussion with real
time facilities. (See figure 4).
Features
Automatic email links to government agencies
Discussion forum
Chat rooms
Area to post comments
Online poll/survey
Percent (%)
56%
0%
0%
32%
35.6%
Figure 4. Percentage of government websites allowing public participation
In the websites examined, only the website of the Beijing municipal government (www.beijing.gov.cn) has
an area to provide actual feedback on the citizen’s submissions for specific issues.
In summary, the vast majority of the government agencies moved into Phase 1 some time ago but many of
them still are in this Phase. They use a website to publish policies and regulations online and use the Internet
to expand access to government information. More than 50% of the websites have some sort of interactive
capability. Very few allow users to submit their comments on legislative or policy proposals. Most of them
only offer email contact information for government officials. The degree of public participation has been
very limited. Very few Chinese government agencies are currently in the transaction phase of e-government
as they fail to enable users to complete entire tasks electronically. As for transformation (Phase 4), there is no
example of this type of initiative available to date.
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4. KEY ISSUES IN E-GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT
Digital divide
The number of Internet users in China has increased rapidly from 620,000 in 1997 to 94 million in 2004.
However, the takeup of the Internet is not even in the country. Chinese adult Internet regular users tend to be
those who are young, male, and living in metropolitan areas as well as having a tertiary education. More than
50% of Internet users live in five highly developed municipalities/provinces (total 32 provinces). As
government agencies increasingly depend on the Internet to deliver information and services to citizens, it is
becoming important that all citizens have Internet access. There is no doubt that people who use the Internet
are more likely to use e-government. The full benefits of e-government will not be realised if only the
privileged few adopt e-government services. E-government initiatives must address how to provide advanced
online service delivery to those without access to the Internet. There is no point to create a website for
important health or education information for rural communities if those communities have no regular access
to the Internet. Like other countries in the world, the government of China is facing the challenge of the
digital divide. “If unchecked, the impact of the digital divide in today’s globalized world is likely to greatly
exacerbate the economic divide, the social divide and the democratic divide among peoples of the world.”
(UNDESA 2003, p5)
Lack of trust and confidence in online transaction
Chinese consumers have listed security and encryptions as the top concern in many surveys. For example, in
the CNNIC report of 1999, 87% of Internet users indicated that online transaction confidentiality and security
issues are more important. Sixty-five per cent of Internet users said they would prefer not to use online
transaction service due to lack of safety assurance of laws and techniques (CNNIC 2002). It is apparent that
people will not engage online transactions unless they trust that transactions are secure and private. No
government agencies have any form of privacy statement or security policy on their websites, which indicates
privacy and security issues have not been addressed in the planning and design of e-government. This in part
explains why very few government websites support some formal online transactions that involve either
payments or transfer of funds or legal rights, five years after the launch of the government on-line project.
Developing trust in e-government requires ongoing effort in a variety of areas, as trust and confidence in
online transaction can be linked to issues such as the legal status of electronic contracts, the privacy of
personal data, confidentiality and electronic authentication as well as secure infrastructure. The regulatory
and policy framework is holding all these issues back, as there is no formal, centralized regulation of online
transaction. For instance, there is no law on electronic signatures, on electronic contracts and on electronic
evidence in China.
Almost every successful e-government project is a case example in building trust. As governments make
more transactional services available online, it will be critical to assure Chinese that the privacy and security
of their personal information will be protected. Without trust, people will avoid the use of online
transactional services.
Lack of awareness of e-government
A report on China’s Internet information resources (CNNIC 2003) revealed that less than 19% of the
government websites at all levels are visited daily. E-government is cited as one of the least frequently used
Internet services and only 15% of Internet users surveyed indicate they are familiar with e-government, while
49.2% have no idea of e-government at all (CNNIC 2004). E-government services are only useful if people
know about them. Developing a good website is not enough. Successful e-government initiatives also will
require good marketing to encourage citizens to make use of them.
Failure to take a citizen-focused approach to e-government development
Fundamentally e-government is concerned with improving citizens’ experience of government. It involves
interactions related to the delivery of public services as well as to participation in the consultation and
decision-making processes. In the UN E-Government Survey 2003, China, ranked 74th position in Ereadiness assessment, slid down to the 86th position in E-participation measurement (UNDESA, 2003). The
ranking reflects the fact that the level of citizens’ engagement with the governments is quite low in China.
The government websites examined in this study indicate that the agencies and departments fail to provide
online opportunities for Chinese to participate in the consultation and decision-making process. The
information available on the websites is mainly based around what the agencies and departments want to
provide, rather than what the citizen needs. On the contrary, the leading countries in e-government take a
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citizen-focused approach in online activities. For examples, New Zealand people were extensively involved
in the design of the new all-of-government portal (www.govt.nz). As a result, it is now delivering the results
they were looking for. (State Services Commission 2003). The eCitizen website of the Singaporean
government was developed around the lifecycle of the citizen and the typical interaction they would have
with government at various stages of their life.
The Chinese government agencies should be more people-centric in the way they design and delivery
services. Providing citizens with better opportunities to be involved in government processes is the key theme
of e-government.
5. CONCLUSION
China has witnessed considerable telecommunications infrastructure and Internet development since 1990s.
The level of infrastructure, legal framework and human capital needed for e-government have been
improving. The development of the Internet and e-government in China is primarily based on top-down
initiatives on the part of the Chinese Government. Although these initiatives successfully helped government
agencies and enterprises to build a presence on the Internet through setting up their web sites, they failed to
achieve significant e-government development.
China’s e-government is still at an early stage of development, although some progress has been made
since the launch of the Government Online Project. The investigation of the government websites in this
study indicates that China is not doing a particularly good job of facilitating citizen involvement.
Clearly, there is more work to be done in the area of public participation and the delivery of transactional
services, as Chinese want not only information about government activities but also interactions with
government electronically.
Achieving e-government will require building public awareness, understanding and trust and confidence.
All these need to be backed up by a supportive policy framework. Critical issues currently identified in this
study must be addressed. China’s leaders need to move beyond the earlier initiatives of “every agency must
have a website” and provide a more innovative strategy of e-government development to make the
interaction between government and citizens (G2C), government and business enterprises (G2B), and interagency relationships (G2G) more friendly, convenient, transparent, secure and private.
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