China's Ministry of National Defense will launch an official bilingual website on Aug. 1, Thursday's China Daily reported.

"The launch of the MND website is a major step for the PLA to open up to the outside world," said Senior Colonel Huang Xueping, deputy director-general of the ministry's information office.

It marks the 82nd anniversary of the founding of the 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The site, in Chinese and in English, will operate on a trial base, Huang said.

He did not elaborate on the website's contents, but web editors said the portal will "cover a large amount of information", featuring both regular activities and background about the Chinese army, according to the newspaper.

"As the Chinese army develops, the army has valued diplomacy with foreign militaries and has paid great attention to informing the public of China's defense policies and troop images through the platform we established," he said.

The ministry is also working to improve its press release mechanism.

The first group of "press officers", selected from different armed forces, graduated from a boot camp on public relations in March, the army's official newspaper reported.

"We may consider making more regular press briefings in the future while keeping contacts with domestic and overseas media organizations in Beijing," the newspaper quoted Huang as saying. "The aim is to release information on China's defense and military modernization to create a better understanding of the Chinese military."

By now, a bunch of government departments both on central and regional level have set up English websites, including the Central People's Government, the National Audit Office, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the State Food and Drug Administration.

Source:Xinhua