Dong Haifeng, a top official with the Danzhou bureau of commerce in Hainan province, has been punished for negligence after failing to update the bureau's official website.
The General Office of the State Council circulated a notice in early November criticizing a large number of local administrations across the country for failing to meet requirements relating to the management of their official websites.
The commerce bureau of Danzhou was the only administration in Hainan that was named, according to news portal hinews.cn.
Dong was placed under investigation soon after the State Council circulated the notice and has now been issued with an administrative demerit and a Communist Party of China warning, a disciplinary punishment handed down by the Danzhou Municipal Party Committee, hinews.cn reported on Sunday.
The punishments handed down to Dong by Danzhou were evidenced-based, in line with the law and Party disciplines, according to sources with the Hainan provincial government.
"This was an act of dereliction. Dong was punished for not conducting his duty of publicizing government information and not updating disclosed government information in a timely manner, as required by the Regulation on the Disclosure of Government Information," said Wang Zhengjie, an official with the Hainan provincial government.
The bureau's official website has been closed permanently and all relevant information on commerce in Danzhou has been moved to the city's government information portal, according to an official with the Danzhou city government.
Data from the General Office of the State Council show that 84 percent of China's cities and regions have established an official accountability system for problems related to the management of their official websites.
Experts said the Danzhou case could herald further implementation of the country's accountability system for information openness, while effective measures could also be introduced to ensure that governments at all levels perform their duties and publicize government information.
