Media usage, political interest and citizens’ issue attention to government annual report in China- evidence from 19 major cities

A Government Annual Report (GAR) plays a critical role in signalling what issues governments at various levels in China paid attention to. Based on data from a survey conducted in June 2016, we divide GAR topics into two categories: macro-economic issue and citizen livelihood issue. On average, citizens are more interested in livelihood issue than economy issue in 19 cities in China. Our empirical analysis shows that media usage and political interest can explain the variation in issue attention among different citizens. We also find that the effect of political interest on livelihood issue can be mediated by social media.