Guangzhou will build a data backup and disaster recovery center in a nearby city to safeguard the municipal government's information system.

The announcement was made at a municipal working meeting on e-government information security held Wednesday in Guangzhou, the capital of southern China's Guangdong Province.

The meeting also disclosed hackers attacked three government websites successively from May to July this year, causing much inconvenience. The three websites belong to the Guangzhou Bureau of Land Resources and Housing Management, the Guangzhou Municipal Price Bureau and one governmental information center.

In order to avoid negative consequences brought by the system collapse, the backup system, known as "Super Brain", will collect all information and functions of Guangzhou's e-government agencies as a backup in case of a breakdown of the electronic system during an attack or disaster.

The first phase of the project, including choosing the site for setting up the center, has started. The whole project is expected to be completed in at least two years.

In addition, an electronic certification system based on digital certificates has been established to verify the information and the identities of users of government Internet services. It has already been successfully used on the websites of the local Bureau of State Taxation for tax declaration and payment services for the past two years.

Curently, nearly 50 municipal departements have set up e-government information systems which have brought great convenience to residents.

(CRI August 10, 2006)