Freedom of Information (FOI) in China has been approached as a strange and intriguing phenomenon. This article uses information flow analysis to propose a more detailed understanding of China’s FOI reform. Information flow, a theme to explore the gradual development of government receptivity to FOI in an information environment through time, is used as a new explanatory model for China’s FOI reform. This article argues that the reform is an outcome of improved information flow resulting from social, political, legal and economic factors. It also asserts that social, political and legal factors should be accorded a central role in understanding the development of FOI in China. Furthermore, China’s FOI reform formed part of a much longer process of increased transparency in the Chinese information environment. This is the reason China has adopted a model of FOI legislation stressing proactive disclosure.
Points for practitioners
The adoption of FOI legislation in China presents a special case study for FOI practitioners, that is, FOI officers. The practitioners face the challenge of processing information requests in an authoritarian regime. This article provides a more complete answer to the paradox of China’s FOI phenomenon. It focuses on local information flow conditions, and this provides a new perspective for FOI practitioners to understand China’s FOI reform. By applying information flow analysis, it argues that China’s FOI reform is an outcome of improved information flow resulting from social, political, legal and economic factors. This resulted in China adopting a model of FOI legislation emphasizing proactive disclosure. A complete and accurate understanding of this reform could help FOI practitioners to improve China’s FOI performance from the perspective of information flow.
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