An annual report by the E-Government Research Center under the China Academy of Governance said that China had 176,714 government microblog accounts at the end of 2012, almost 2.5 times more than the previous year.

Some 113,382 of these accounts are run by Communist Party of China committees, legislatures, governments, political advisors, Party disciplinary watchdogs as well as judicial and procuratorial agencies and government-sponsored institutions, said the report, which was released on March 27.

The remaining 63,332 are kept by officials and staff members of such agencies, according to the report.

It added that a great number of these accounts are run by agencies and individuals associated with the public security and police system, with the proportions respectively accounting for 37 percent of authorities' microblogs and 39 percent of individual accounts.