Current status and needs of Chinese e-government users

Purpose - This article seeks to investigate unequal access of Chinese citizens to Chinese e-government. The study promotes wide access to declassified and uncensored Chinese government information and services published on Chinese government web sites for Chinese citizens.Design methodology approach - This article reviews relevant literature and independent surveys as well as government survey reports in consecutive years. It investigates the current status and needs of the Chinese e-government users - who they are, who are not and why not, as well as what they need to use and benefit from Chinese e-government.Findings - This article finds that the current Chinese e-government is still at an immature stage and serves too few people. There is a need for Chinese e-government information and services, but the awareness and usage of e-government is very low among the Chinese people. People need all kinds of education and assistance, from general computer and internet literacy to specialized government information related education and assistance, all of which should be free or inexpensive.Research limitations implications - This article suggests that research delving into the following questions needs to be done in future: what government information and services do people need; how do they search it; what are their experiences of using e-government; what are their problems and solutions; and what improvements do they expect?Practical implications - The study exposes the problem of unequal access of Chinese citizens to Chinese e-government.Originality value - It is important to regularly study the status and the needs of the users along with the Chinese e-government development. Literature review shows that the research on Chinese e-government tends to focus on the technical aspects. There is little research on the users. This article, from a librarian's perspective, provides better knowledge of the Chinese e-government users and their deeper need to use and benefit from e-government information and services.