Information-poor environments: Asian tigers - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 249

communicating and disclosing environmental information. Does that
mean that we see e 2 -governance emerging in China? And, if so, what are
its similarities and differences with e-governance in OCED countries?
During the past one and a half decades, China has indeed invested
significantly in e-government initiatives, and the annual budget for
e-government is still increasing annually at a rate of around 40 percent
(Yong, 2003 : 83). Although perhaps in absolute figures the amount
falls short of what is happening in OECD countries, when compared to
other developing countries, the investments in e-government in China
have been enormous. 23 According to Kluver ( 2005 ), the purpose of
these massive investments in e-government in China is not so much
related to empowerment of citizens or furthering democracy by increas-
ing citizen participation, but can be related to three goals: (i) stabili-
sation and increased efficiency of bureaucratic procedures and - to
a lesser extent - state-citizen interactions, also to relieve the rather
obsolete bureaucratic structure; (ii) to reduce corruption, by provid-
ing means and techniques that enhance transparency, surveillance
and control; 24 and (iii) combat the distortion of information, which
seems to be inherent in hierarchical systems without transparency.
This all comes together in the aim of strengthening the centre vis- a-
vis lower level governmental agencies, enterprises and citizens. To a
major extent, as also emphasised by former Premier Zhu Rongji, the
various e-government projects (e.g., the so-called Golden projects, the
Government Online project) focus rather on improving 'government'
than on the 'e'. 25 Electronic government is seen as a project, through

23

Quite surprisingly, the Global E-Government report of 2005 (West, 2005 ),
ranks China fifth of all countries on e-government, using criteria of
information availability, service delivery and public access. Vietnam, in
contrast, ranked only seventy-seventh out of the more than 130 countries.

24

This is done especially via the Government Online Project 2000 (available via
http://www.gov.cn/govonlinereview). In September 2006, Chinese official news
agencies reported that during the first eight months of 2006, US$15.6 billion of
illegal state financial transactions was identified. This is all part of the offensive
of Chinese leaders in 2006 to fight corruption, especially by enlarging
transparency in decision making and by information disclosure.

25

“We must emphasise the usage of the means of informationalisation, in order
to strengthen the efficiency of government work. This will make the
supervisory work of the government more serious, effective, increase the
proximity to people, and raise the efficiency of service. It will make every level
of government clean, industrious, pragmatic, and highly efficient” (speech of
former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji in 2003, as quoted in Lagerkvist, 2005 :
193).