China will remain open to foreign media after the Olympic Games, a senior official in charge of press and publishing industry said on Wednesday.

Liu Binjie, the General Administration of Press and Publication minister, said openness to the foreign media was a long-term policy rather than a makeshift "puff of wind."

"China's open door to the foreign media will not close after the Games," he told Xinhua.

"We regard the May 12 earthquake and the Olympic Games as an 'important test' of the media operation system reforms and will explore building a more open and transparent media system after the Games."

The government issued a series of regulations at the end of 2006, which stipulated foreign journalists could conduct interviews in China as long as they had consent from the intended interviewees.

However, some feared the open door would be shut after the Games, since these regulations would expire in October.

"We are mapping out a new regulation that we are confident will make China's media still more open and transparent," he said, without giving further details.

Liu said media openness and transparency was in line with China's interests.

"With the country's media coverage of emergencies becoming more timely, rumors are losing ground," he noted. "The timely and transparent coverage of the May 12 earthquake functioned as a bridge, showing the world a real and open China."

Some critics have said that since thousands of domestic and foreign journalists were expected to flood into the country during the August Games, the government would be extremely nervous about possible negative reports.

"We always welcome goodwill and constructive criticism," Liu said. "We are confident of being challenged by journalists after 30 years of reform and opening-up."

"The open-door policy has shown the confidence of the Chinese government," said Yin Yungong, a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences senior journalism expert.

"The negative reports, which can be seen in every country, cannot negate what China has achieved over the past 30 years."

Since the 2008 Beijing International Media Center (BIMC) opened on July 8, more foreign journalists have been filing applications for individual interviews regarding sensitive issues. These included pollution, the one-child policy, AIDS and military expenditure, among others.

"Some of their questions are so sensitive that we have to endeavor to convince the officials to take them," said Zhu Shouchen, BIMC vice director.

"Although it's far from perfect, China's attitudes toward foreign journalists and negative reports have changed substantially during my stay over the past 14 months," said Joseph, a 35-year-old German journalist in Beijing.

"The procedures that we have to undergo before conducting an interview have been greatly simplified," he added.

"There was no limit regarding the topic and the selection of common folks as my interviewees," said Jane, an Economist journalist, who went to the Sichuan earthquake areas months ago. "There is not even any local official present during my interview."

In response to some Western human rights organizations' claims that to interview in China is dangerous, Liu said they were defaming the country "with stereotypes constructed from hearsay and prejudice in their mind, regardless of the reality.

"They are blind to China's democratic progress and efforts in enhancing media transparency over the past few years," he said. "Foreign journalists in China will see the real situation with their own eyes."

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2008)