Full coverage: China’s Leaders

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for enhanced development of the Internet and harnessing it for the benefit of the country and the people. Xi made the remarks in his speech at a symposium on cyber security and informatization.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also head of the central Internet security and informatization leading group, presides over a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization in Beijing, capital of China, April 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

China’s new development concepts: innovation, coordination, green development, opening up and sharing—will be used to guide the socio-economic development—should also be implemented when driving the internet’s development forward. That is one of the key messages from Xi, who also heads China’s central internet security and informatization leading group.

During a work forum Tuesday, Xi spent time listening to the opinions and suggestions of internet experts, entrepreneurs and officials. He then said China has seen rapid development of the internet. He added that while great achievements have been made in internet security and informatization, there are still many problems left to be solved.

Xi said China’s economy is entering the development phase of new normal, which requires new impetus. The internet, which attracts more than 700 million Chinese users, can play an important role in this.

He stressed that the development of the Internet should be woven into the real economy, so that the flow of information will also drive the flow of technology, capital, talent, and goods. This would help optimize resource allocation.

To achieve that goal, the Chinese president said the development of the internet and informatization should be people-oriented, and aim for major technological breakthroughs.

He said the cyberspace should be purified, since it has become an important cultural platform for millions of Chinese. He also noted that cyber security and informatization are intertwined, and that development and security should be promoted hand-in-hand.

The president encouraged skilled personnel to also make their own contribution to China’s internet development and informatization.