244 spokespersons for central and local government in 2018 were announced by the State Council Information Office on Dec 19.

It has been a tradition to reveal the list to the public for 14 years, going back to 2004. The number of spokespersons has grown threefold since then, up from 75 the first time.

Compared to the 2017 list, 156 have continued their job and there are 88 new faces. In the new list, there are 38 spokeswomen and 206 spokesmen.

This marks the first time a minister-level spokesperson is among the elected — one from the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Yan Jiangying, spokeswoman for China’s Food and Drug Administration, believes the quantity and quality of news conferences have been increasing She said government departments or organizations have been doing a better job to respond to the public concerns in a very active way.

"Nowadays we have multiple ways to release news, including social media platforms. And our policy analysis has become more easy, with less jargon for people to understand," said Yan.

Meng Wei, first spokeswoman of the National Development and Reform Commission, has mentioned the pressure she feels in the position.

"We have a wide range of works, so you have a lot to prepare before a news conference. You don't know who's gonna ask about what."