In July 2003, when she was completely green to the Internet, unable even to type, Man was told she could submit almost all her company's tax report forms via the Internet rather than having to go to the tax bureau's office every month.
"At the beginning I was totally in a mess, but now I can do all that any time, anywhere with a computer and access to the Internet," Man said. "It is indeed much more convenient to process the forms on the Internet. It saves a lot of time."
In the past, she went to the tax bureau's office, an hour's drive from her company, to join a long queue just to submit the tax report forms.
"Sometimes I had to visit the office twice or even more times a month just to hand in papers. I had to pay fines for delayed payment when I failed to go through all the procedures in the first 10 days of each month."
But now, the senior accountant can do it all in her office. When she gets confirmation from the bureau, she prints the tax receipts and goes to a bank to pay the tax.
Man is just one of thousands of accountants in the capital who are benefiting from the bureau's moves to go online.
By the end of last year, about 72 per cent of the city's taxation reports were submitted through the Internet, said Zhu Yan, director of the Beijing Municipal Office of Informatization Office that is in charge of the promotion of e-government of Beijing.
"In the general picture, Beijing residents can now process a number of things via the Internet, such as inquiring about personal traffic violations, searching for government documents and downloading application forms," said Zhu.
"Local farmers also benefit from the city's burgeoning informatization drive."
Farmers of the Dahuashan Township in the northwestern suburbs last year sold 20 million kilograms of peaches, 57 per cent of the town's total peach output in 2004, through online business with the help of the local government.
Speaking at a press briefing on the city's e-government development, Zhu said a regulation requiring all municipal government agencies to publicize information of concern to the public was expected to take effect by October.
"The municipal government agencies shall also be bound to publicize all their administrative affairs and provide downloads of all their application forms by the end of this year," Zhu said.
Zhu said the municipal government was trying to give the public more channels to express their concerns and difficulties through the Internet and hotline phones.
For instance, the municipal government opened a special column on its official website in May to solicit public opinions and complaints about the performance of its various departments.
"Nearly 200 notes pile into the column every day and about two-thirds of the messages, such as complaints about traffic jams and environment pollution, have been dealt with by the relevant government agencies," Zhu said.
"E-government, which brings the public and governments closer through the Internet, can propel the reforms and innovations of local governance."
Autor: Li Jing
Quelle: China Daily, 19.07.2005
