Government and Policy

Foreign Ministry opens micro blog, attracting fans

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-04-19 11:07

A screenshot of the micro blog of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 10:57 am Tuesday when 38,148 followers have been attracted.

The micro blog account Waijiao Xiaolingtong, which literally means foreign affairs information, believed to be the official account of China's Foreign Ministry, attracted 37,925 followers at sina.com as of 10:40 am Tuesday, six days after posting its first message.

Beijing News reported Tuesday that insiders from the ministry and sina.com have both confirmed that the account is managed by the information department of the ministry, making it the first ministry-level department in China to use a micro-blogging service.

Messages on the page include events from China's foreign affairs history, information about west African countries' situation and pictures from around the 2011 BRICS Summit in Sanya, Hainan province.

The messages were delivered in a casual tone, even quoting Mark Twain: "Mauritius was made first, and then heaven," while talking about the visa-free policy for Chinese tourists to the country.

The insider from the ministry said the micro-blogging service is on a trial run, and they will post more to satisfy people's interests.

Their followers were increasing by approximately 3,000 every half hour on Tuesday morning. The page is at http://t.sina.com.cn/wjxlt.