Petitioners not permitted to bypass authorities

Petitioners' requests will not be responded to by government agencies if they bypass authorities to file complaints, according to a regulation to be enacted on May 1.

Central government departments will not accept complaints about issues that should be handled by provincial governments or that are being processed by them, according the regulation issued by the State Bureau for Letters and Calls.

In the regulation, petitioners are encouraged to submit their claims through e-mail, letters or phone calls, which the bureau said are highly efficient.

Petitioning, also known as "letters and calls", is the country's administrative system for hearing public complaints and grievances. In China, most petitioners see injustice in land acquisition, healthcare, education or environmental protection.

There were 6.4 million petitioned cases from January to October last year, according to a bluebook released last week by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.