RSSeNEWS to be determined...

Attempts at greater transparency by the Chinese Government have been criticised as "not detailed enough" by a prominent statistician.

For the first time, four Chinese ministries – Science and Technology, Land and Resources, Finance and Housing and Urban-Rural Development – posted their 2010 annual budgets online on 31 March. But amongst the ministry budgets, only Science and Technology provided data showing the comparison with 2009.

Professor Ye Qing, a finance and taxation expert at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law who is also deputy chief at Wuhan Municipal Statistic Bureau and sits as a deputy to the National People's Congress, reportedly told the Beijing Times the figures were "confusing for the public and disappointing."

Ye Qing questioned the lack detail on salaries and recruitment plans. He also highlighted the lack of clarity in one very sensitive area, funds allocated to government departments to buy houses. "Beijing's housing price is high, while taxpayers are called up to shoulder the public officials' burden on this spending," he was quoted as saying in China Daily.

The information was made available as a result of China's FoI legislation, the 2007 Decree of Government Information Openness. The decree calls upon local, regional and national governments of to publish their budgets but does not stipulate the level of disclosure required.

Ministry of Land and Resources director Lai Wensheng was quoted in China Daily as admitting that "this is a just first step and there is a long way to go."

Bai Jingming, vice-director of the research institute for fiscal science at the Ministry of Finance was more bullish, telling the People's Daily Online, "It will help the public to know how government money is allocated to solve social problems and to further understand the policies of our country … Besides, it also lets the public supervise the government more directly."

Ye Qing reportedly expressed some optimism saying the posting were a good start as a first step in opening up government budgets, and that with time more transparent and professional budget plans were inevitable.