GUANGZHOU - The municipal government of the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou launched its official microblog Monday, joining other cities that have used the popular social networking tool to better interact with the public.

The official microblog "Zhongguo Guangzhou Fabu," which roughly translates to "China Guangzhou News Release," was launched simultaneously on weibo.com and t.qq.com, two of the country's popular microblogging websites.

Nearly 12 hours after being officially launched at 9:40 am, the microblog had accumulated over 110,000 followers on both sites.

Twenty-four municipal government agencies, including police and education authorities, will post newly-released policies and regulations, work developments, and information about news conferences on the joint microblog account, Mayor of Guangzhou Wan Qingliang said.

More government agencies will join the microblog account in the future, he said.

Last month, the municipal governments of Beijing and Shanghai unveiled similar news release platforms, as microblogging is becoming a widely recognized platform and channel for interactions between the government and the public.

According to the latest statistics from Internet giant Sina, which operates weibo.com, nearly 10,000 government agencies had opened verified microblog accounts by early November this year.

The latest statistics show that China now has more than 300 million registered microblog users among its 485 million Internet users.