The Improved Information Environment as a Key Rationale for Freedom of Information Reform in China

Abstract

The improved Chinese information environment influenced China’s capacity to accept Freedom of Information (FOI). The comparison of different information management approaches to crises taken by the Chinese government over time demonstrates that without the improvement of the information environment due to the formation of multiple paths for information flow, the Chinese government would have been unlikely to be receptive to FOI reform.

Keywords: Information environment; Freedom of Information; Information flow