'The big surprise that I would give you [journalists] in 2009 is more and more officials responsible for the various party organs will come to attend the news briefings to meet everyone,' he said.

The move towards transparency followed the first news conference held last week by the military, the operations of which are little known.

Foreign media have said the formation of the Ministry of National Defence's information office this year and that first news briefing suggested that the People's Liberation Army was opening up.

Yet, the mainland still maintained a tight grip on domestic media and news reports are regularly censored.

Seven departments of the party have now set up media affairs offices and appointed spokesmen, according to Mr Wang. They include the powerful Central Committee for Discipline Inspection, the party's watchdog, and the departments of United Front Work, Organisation and Foreign Affairs.

Mr Wang said his office was also pushing to build a round-the-clock information access system in all the main departments, with each having a representative on duty 24 hours a day to respond to media inquiries immediately.

He hailed the mainland's 'remarkable progress' in being more open this year, citing examples such as the record number of news briefings held by central departments, and the free access to information during the devastating earthquake in Sichuan .

'The increased transparency, especially after a devastating earthquake in May, shows the country has made progress in keeping people informed,' he said.

Mr Wang said promoting transparency was one of the government's goals, saying the concept of 'protecting the people's right to know' had been incorporated into a document at the party's National Congress in October 2007.

And on May 1, new rules requiring the government to make public 'information that concerns the immediate interests' of individuals and organisations took effect.

The government further eased restrictions on foreign journalists that were first implemented during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Foreign reporters now need permission to conduct an interview only from the person or organisation in question.

Other restrictions, however, remain in place. For instance, Chinese nationals are still barred from working for foreign media organisations as reporters.

Mr Wang said the central government would release its first national action plan on human rights early next year, to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted at the UN General Assembly in 1948.

'It will also serve as a strong propeller to push forward China's human rights cause,' Mr Wang said.