广播听力：Internet Serves as a Platform for People s Opinions

He chatted online with netizens for nearly two hours, broaching issues as diverse as China's health care reform, unemployment and wealth gap as well as democracy and social justice issues.

Nearly 300,000 netizens and mobile phone users from around the world posted questions for the premier.

An article in the Beijing News said Wen Jiabao set a good example for government officials at various levels to directly communicate with the public via the Internet. Online chats are the most direct and convenient way for the Chinese to voice their opinions, because they now constitute the world's largest number of Internet users, which totaled more than 300 million at the end of January.(WWw.hXen.com)

The article also said in recent years the Internet has played an important role in securing top-to-bottom communications for the government to listen to the voices of the masses. It suggested that more officials go online to learn the views of the people and formulate more detailed policies to help them.

A commentary in the Beijing Youth Daily said Wen Jiabao's web chat reflected the confidence of the government and was an indication that the country has become more open to the world.

It also noted that Wen answered netizens' questions in a plain and sincere manner, further demonstrating the government's determination to resolve difficulties facing the people.