"The first Guangdong Province Netizen Forum, held in the provincial capital Guangzhou on November 1, 2009 is a sign of the growing importance of the Internet as an expression of Chinese public opinion, Chinanews.com.cn reports. The forum sponsors said their aim is to transmit the views of grass-roots netizens to the government and boost the participation of Internet users in public life. Internet use has spread rapidly across China over the past ten years and Guangdong has more Internet users than any other province. Guangdong Party Secretary Wang Yang has held discussions with netizens and invited them to voice their criticisms of government. He has also said the government wants to create ways for the public to participate in policy making and turn public opinion into a form of soft power to improve Guangdong." - Rebecca MacKinnon