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Except from the Foreword The stated aim of the book series ""Capturing Intelligence"" is to publish books on research from all disciplines dealing with and affecting the issue of understanding and reproducing intelligence artificial systems. Of course, much of the work done in the past decades in this area has been of a highly technical nature, varying from hardware design for robots, software design for intelligent agents, and formal logic for reasoning. It is therefore very refreshing to see Information Flow and Knowledge Sharing. This is a courageous book indeed. It is not.

"Freedom of Information (FOI) in China is often perceived as a recent and intriguing phenomenon. This book presents a more complex and detailed understanding of the evolution of FOI in China, using information flow analysis to explore the gradual development of government receptivity to FOI in an information environment through time. The book argues that it is necessary to reassess the widely divergent origins of FOI reform in China, and asserts that social, political and legal factors should have central roles in understanding the development of FOI in China. The book uses information flow analysis to find that FOI reform in China formed part of a much longer process of increased transparency in the Chinese information environment, which gradually shifted from the acceptance of proactive disclosure to that of reactive disclosure. FOI thus has become a beneficiary of this gradual transformation of the Chinese information environment"--

Freedom of Information (FOI) in China has been approached as a strange and intriguing phenomenon. This article uses information flow analysis to propose a more detailed understanding of China's FOI reform. Information flow, a theme to explore the gradual development of government receptivity to FOI in an information environment through time, is used as a new explanatory model for China's FOI reform. This article argues that the reform is an outcome of improved information flow resulting from social, political, legal and economic factors. It also asserts that social, political and legal factors should be accorded a central role in understanding the development of FOI in China. Furthermore, China's FOI reform formed part of a much longer process of increased transparency in the Chinese information environment. This is the reason China has adopted a model of FOI legislation stressing proactive disclosure. Points for practitioners The adoption of FOI legislation in China presents a special case study for FOI practitioners, that is, FOI officers. The practitioners face the challenge of processing information requests in an authoritarian regime. This article provides a more complete answer to the paradox of China's FOI phenomenon. It focuses on local information flow conditions, and this provides a new perspective for FOI practitioners to understand China's FOI reform. By applying information flow analysis, it argues that China's FOI reform is an outcome of improved information flow resulting from social, political, legal and economic factors. This resulted in China adopting a model of FOI legislation emphasizing proactive disclosure. A complete and accurate understanding of this reform could help FOI practitioners to improve China's FOI performance from the perspective of information flow.

1. Introduction -- 2. Information flow as an analytical device for FOI research -- 3. The improved information environment as a rationale for FOI reform in China -- 4. Democratization as a rationale for FOI reform in China -- 5. Law-based administration as a rationale for FOI reform in China -- 6. Reassessment of economic growth and anti-corruption efforts as rationales for FOI reform in China -- 7. Gradual legislative process for FOI reform in China -- 8. China's limited push model of FOI legislation -- 9. Compliance with proactive disclosure requirements in practice -- 10. Non compliance with reactive disclosure requirements in practice -- 11. Conclusion : information flow analysis enabling an adequate understanding of FOI reform in China.