As more local companies realize the importance of maintaining a positive image, China's public relations (PR) industry has gone from being virtually nonexistent to one of the country's fastest growing industries in just a matter of a few years.

But China's PR industry is still very much in its infancy. Among most of the country's PR companies, the goal is just getting good exposure for clients. Few firms however, seem concerned with honesty or publicly sorting out the issues which Chinese companies invariably encounter.

For instance, when businesses find themselves caught up in scandal, the first move by most PR firms is to bribe the media to hush up about the matter. But once such bribes get out - as they so often do - these cover-up efforts only make matters worse.

PR businesses need to realize that the public doesn't want or expect businesses to be perfect in all respects. What people want is companies which can take responsibility for their mistakes and accept blame when blame is due.

The author is Guo Yukuan, a researcher with Changce Thinktank, a Beijing-based consulting firm.