President of www.china.org.cn Huang Youyi chaired the signing ceremony. Executive Vice-President Li Jiaming and representatives from the related news websites signed the agreement. Present at the ceremony were Cai Mingzhao, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, and Xiao Huaiyuan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and also director of the Tianjin Municipal Publicity Department.

Www.china.org.cn, an authorized government portal of China, is published under the auspices of the China International Publishing Group and the State Council Information Office. The news website has made much progress in the past two years. The daily number of its visitors in November was up 15 times from the same period last year, with over 50 percent of the audience coming from abroad.

In addressing the signing ceremony, Cai Mingzhao described the signing of the agreement as of "great significance."

"Such cooperation will help make full use of the information resources from various localities to enrich the content of www.china.org.cn and present China in a comprehensive way to the world," Cai said. He also urged various media websites to work hard to enhance their attractiveness, reputation and competitive edge.

Wang Yi, general manager of www.enorth.com.cn, said: "The cooperation will no doubt complement our various strengths. It is an endeavor of mutual benefit that will also help develop each website."

Leaders of information offices from 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the central government -- Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and Hainan -- also attended the signing ceremony along with the CEOs of the news websites.

(china.org.cn by Unisumoon Liu, staff reporter, December 27, 2001)