China's New State Internet Information Office - More Control or Just Streamlining the Administration

With the number of Internet users in China approaching 500 million, the Chinese Government announced on 4 May 2011 that it has set up the State Internet Information Office which will serve as the new central agency for online communications in China.

What prompted the setting up of the SIIO?

Prior to the announcement, it was the collective responsibility of China's State Council Information Office and a disparate group of at least 14 government ministries and offices that exercise regulatory control over China's Internet industry. This setup was beset by poor coordination and conflict. The creation of the centralised State Internet Information Office ("SIIO") has been lauded by the Chinese government as a key mechanism to streamline the administration of the Internet in China and to simplify the regulatory environment by bringing the Internet under one unifying regulatory body.