US consulting firm to help train China's govt spokespersons

The US-based Hill and Knowlton Public Relations Consulting Firm has been invited to give lectures on communication with media during crises as part of a national training program of government spokespersons, sources with the State Council Information Office said Monday in Beijing.

It is the first time that a foreign consulting firm has been invited to give lectures to China's government spokespersons at a national program run by the central government, said Wang Xingming, director of the training program under the office, adding that experts from the firm will give lectures on Tuesday.

Aiming to properly handle its public image with a new generation of professionally trained spokespeople, China started on Monday the third five-day training program of government spokespersons, which included 84 spokespersons from central government departments and local governments.

Wang Guoging, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, said at the opening ceremony of the program that China's spokesperson system has begun to take shape, but it needs further improvement.

He pointed out that most Chinese spokespeople need professional training to improve their performance. The aim of the program is to improve spokespeople's professional skills through lectures and practices, which would benefit administrative transparency and promote news releases.

The office held two similar programs providing training for 100 spokespersons from 66 central governmental departments and spokespersons from provincial-level governments last September and November, respectively.

The two training programs received good responses from attendees, which also aroused the interests of media and the public across the country. Many departments, which missed the last two programs, called the office to participate in the third training program, said Wang Xingming.

The training program, using case studies and practical exercises, will invite senior government spokespersons and specialists from universities and media to give lectures on news releases, public relations and language skills.

After the outbreak of SARS this spring, Chinese senior leaders have reiterated the importance of opening information about government affairs and increasing administrative transparency, which asks for a comprehensive news release system with professionally trained spokespeople.

The government had realized that the timely release of major decisions, important events and breaking news would help to avoid undesirable public rumors, which sometimes triggered social unrest and chaos.

China's spokesperson system in the central government, spearheaded by Foreign Ministry spokespersons, has opened an important information channel for the public since it started in 1983. Spokespeople not only showed up on diplomatic and other important political occasions, but also tried to show more connection with people's daily life.

The spokesperson system of local governments still lags behind that of the central government, but many provinces and big cities have started their efforts to push ahead.

Currently, Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Anhui, Fujian, Shandong,Henan and Jilin provinces as well as Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing municipalities have actively set up and implemented the spokesperson system.