State Council, or Chinese central government, will distribute its newsletter to county libraries beginning in April in order to increase awareness about the latestpolicies and administrative regulations.

    The newsletter, edited by the General Office of the State Council, is a publication for readerships both in China and abroad.It mainly publishes news about laws, administrative regulations and central documents.

    For a long period of time, ordinary Chinese had little access to the papers because only government officials and scholars couldread them in department offices or major libraries. The decision means that people will be able to freely read the gazettes in all public libraries at or over the county level.

    The State Council hopes that the increased distribution will help governments to improve their efficiency by guaranteeing the people's rights of participating and supervising public affairs.

    In order to ensure that the new motion is effective, Chinese Ministry of Culture has issued a circular asking all public libraries to provide necessary facilities to display of newsletters.

    Ordinary Chinese people, especially those in rural areas, have complained that local officials often cheat them by taking advantage of their ignorance on governmental policies. In response,the central government is working to improve the transparency of the government, including opening official websites and providing free document copies to the public.