Openness of Government Affairs in China: Developments in 2019 and Prospects in 2020

In 2019, the Center for Studies of the Rule of Law Index of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Innovation Project Team on the Rule of Law Index of the Institute of Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences continued to carry out third-party assessment of the open government work of 49 departments under the State Council, 31 provincial-level governments, 49 governments of larger cities and 125 county (city, district)-level governments, focusing on such aspects of the work as the openness of decision-making, administration and service, and implementation and its results, policy interpretation and response to public concerns, and disclosure of government information upon application. The assessment shows that in 2019, China further improved the system of openness of government affairs, steadily advanced the openness of decision-making, and made significant progress in the openness of government service, administrative law enforcement, and the results of administration. In the future, China still needs to further enhance its awareness of openness, precisely identify public information needs, integrate openness into the whole process of government activities, and raise the level of information guarantee.