FOUR spokespersons of five major State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Shenzhen and Hong Kong could not be reached at the contact phone numbers recently made public by State authorities.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council made public contact information for SOEs, including phone and fax numbers and e-mail addresses, Friday, with the aim of improving the press release system in SOEs following the establishment of a similar system for the government.
However, a Southern Metropolis Daily report said three e-mail addresses of five SEOs with headquarters in Shenzhen and neighboring Hong Kong didn t exist.
The Daily said only the spokesperson of the OCT Group, Guan Shan, answered his phone and e-mail. Guan said he had answered about 10 phone calls and six e-mails from various media outlets since his contact information was released. He said the introduction of the spokesperson mechanism for SOEs was a good move to create an effective communication channel between the companies and the public, but more should be done to make sure the mechanism work effectively and positively.
Guan said he had received more than 20 e-mails in which business rivals disguising themselves as journalists sought commercial secrets in three days. It s also important to be able to verify the identification of a caller for phone interviews.
The city government introduced a new regulation which holds top officials of government agencies accountable for press releases and dissemination of information to the media. Effective from Dec. 1, 2009, spokespersons of government agencies faced administrative punishment for delays in releasing news and for covering up information. (SD News)
