A 'press hall' was opened on Wednesday by Shenzhen municipal government at the Citizen's Center for the distribution of news releases, a spokesman from the governmental information office said Thursday.

The municipal health bureau was the first to make use of the press hall Wednesday to announce the discharge of Shenzhen's only human bird flu patient from hospital.

The first press conference held in the press hall on Wednesday, by Shenzhen Municipal Health Bureau, announced that the city's only human bird flu patient was discharged from the hospital on the same day.

The new facility, located at room No.1036, Section B of the Citizen's Center, will be used to announce major city news especially in the event of disasters, epidemics, accidents, consumer issues and the adoption of new polices and regulations.

"The public have the right to know when something related to their lives happens," said Chen Jing, director of the municipal information office. "It's part of our ambition in building a transparent government."

All information released at the press hall will also be available on the government website www.sz.gov.cn at the same time.  

On the same day the municipal information office released the names and contact numbers of 59 spokespeople and 88 news assistants representing 59 bureaus or departments around the city.

"A modern and mature government should be willing to talk to the public and understand the importance of effective communication," Mayor Xu Zongheng had said last month at a training course designed to assist local officials to learn communication skills.

"To a transparent government, journalists are not enemies, subordinates, students or friends but challengers," said Ma Hong, a bureau director from the State Council's information office at the training course.

In early July more than 120 spokespeople and news assistants from Shenzhen attended the five-day training session offered by the State Council information office, professors from Peking, Tsinghua and Fudan universities.

The spokesperson system was established in Shenzhen in 1985. A total of 40 spokespeople representing 38 local bureaus and departments were named in 1998.

(Shenzhen Daily August 4, 2006)