Officials defend work on TV(2)

Among the speakers were directors of the local land and resources bureau, the development and reform commission and the environmental protection administration.

Their TV performances will be directly linked to their positions next year, according to Lin Shengbao, director of the city's performance appraisal office and the official in charge of assessing government officials. 

"The live broadcast is an important part of their annual evaluations," Lin said. "Representatives of the masses, media and Wenzhou People's Congress are invited to perform the evaluations."

Those who ranked toward the bottom in the evaluations will see their annual bonuses reduced and face demotion, Lin said.

Wenzhou, a wealthy coastal city known for private entrepreneurs, was caught in an informal loan market debacle following a string of bankruptcies last year. 

When giving his speech on camera, Zhang Zhenyu, director of the city's financial office and the official in charge of the financial reform, sweated profusely. 

"The fact that some of our officials embarrassed themselves by sweating in front of the camera revealed there may be flaws in their work," said a professor from the school of journalism and communication at a university in Wuhan, who only gave his surname, Wang.

"The format for the show is a new type of media supervision that we've never tried before," the professor said.

Shen Yi, at Fudan University's department of international politics, said Wuhan's and Wenzhou's live TV broadcasts mark an improvement, as they both prove that "what was hidden before is visible to the public nowadays". 

"But that will also encourage officials who can came off sounding good on the show," Shen said. "People need their government to perform real deeds rather than just talk."

Ma Songliang, a shoe factory director in Wenzhou, said: "At least we know what's going on over there. We now know what our government did in the past year and their working progress."

Ma said he is worried about "whether they actually tell the truth". 

"I think it's more important to do something concrete."