China moves toward an Internet powerhouse: official

Lu Wei, minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the "Light of the Internet" expo in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, Dec 15. [Photo/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The development of the Internet industry in China has gone from strength to strength in recent years as the country has pursued turning its Internet business from "big" to "great", according to China’s web chief Lu Wei.

He was addressing the opening ceremony of the "Light of Internet" expo on Tuesday morning. The expo, with a smorgasbord of latest technical inventions, is a key component of the second World Internet Conference scheduled Dec 16-18 in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

"I've been to the exhibition venues many times and got to appreciate the expo's magic charm," said the minister of the Cyberspace Administration. "The development of the Internet is advancing so rapidly that I can feel that China is growing from a big internet nation to a great one."

The retrospective expo, according to Lu, displayed achievements of the Internet over the past two decades which infiltrated all sectors and fostered 670 million netizens, which is more than one fifth of the global Internet population.

"Here they have the latest applications, such as the Baidu self-driving car, the Volvo smart vehicle, the CETC-developed aerostatics technology, and the Nokia virtue reality camera, all those amazing products reflecting the ‘Internet Plus’ trend and China’s inclusiveness and openness as a big Internet country."

"Here you can see plenty of innovation and invention by more than 150 small and medium-sized companies. Together they have created a sound, energetic Internet business environment that manifests board prospects for the Internet."

"Moreover, the expo vividly shows practices by the people of Zhejiang who are on the frontline of China's Internet development. Wuzhen since last year has built a series of intelligent programs benefited by Internet technology in the fields of medical service, tourism and transportation. More than 80 local companies in the province are expected to participate in the second WIC with their products portfolio ranging from e-commerce to Internet finance, the Internet of things, smart logistics, cloud computing and big data."

"The Internet has brought about a great many wonderful things and benefited the people while revealing the enormous potential of China as a leading Internet country.

Already a rising Internet force, China will stick to "five orientations" in order to become the dominant one, added Lu.

"We should make innovation the driving factor, balance the development of cybersecurity with that of informatization, and the development of urban areas with rural., and promote a green economy for substantial growth."

"Meanwhile, we will promote openness by actively engaging in international Internet cooperation and learning from the latest Internet experience. The bottom line is that the results of Internet development will be shared by and benefit the masses."

The sentiment echoed President Xi Jinping's remarks at a meeting in Feb last year where he urged the country to strive to become an Internet powerhouse.

Chinese authorities have attached more importance to cyber security and Internet development. A central leading group was established to orchestrate work and policy-making.

Xi also heads a Central leading group in charge of Internet security and informatization work and Internet-related strategies.