President Xi called for the establishment of a foundation that will help the country hasten and deepen reforms for the first three years of the framework. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged countries to "jointly build a community of shared future in cyberspace."
Xi made his remarks during his opening address of the Second World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, a river town in northeast China's Zhejiang Province.
The future of cyberspace should be in the hands of all nations, Xi said, adding that countries should step up communication, broaden consensus and deepen cooperation.
The president noted Wuzhen as an example of what can be achieved by "combining tradition with modernity and integrating culture with science." One of China's first "smart towns," Wuzhen offers widespread 4G coverage to its 59,000 citizens, with Wi-Fi accessibility in public areas and buses, according to a report by China Daily.
Xi also called for faster development of global cyber infrastructure and pushed for better interconnectivity.
"China stands ready to work with all parties concerned to come up with more investment and technical support to jointly advance the building of global cyber infrastructure and enable more developing countries and their people to share the development opportunities brought by the Internet," Xi said.
Stressing the creation of an online platform for cultural exchanges and mutual learning, Xi also shed light on the innovative development of e-commerce for China's economy.
"The robust growth of China's Internet has provided a big market for enterprises and business starters of all countries," he said. "China's door of opening-up will never close. Our policy toward foreign investment will not change."
Xi also called for additional measures to maintain and develop cybersecurity, saying that security and development are "the two wings of a bird."
"All countries should work together to contain the abuse of information technology, oppose cyber surveillance and cyberattacks and reject arms race in cyberspace," the president said.
China will work with all other countries to improve dialogue and exchange, as well as manage differences effectively, he added.
"We should push for the formulation of international cyberspace rules accepted by all parties, as well as an international convention against terrorism in cyberspace, improve the legal assistance mechanism to fight cyber crimes and jointly uphold peace and security in cyberspace," Xi said.
China has nearly 700 million Internet users, which is twice that of the population of the U.S., making it a huge market for foreign enterprises and business startups.
"As long as they abide by China's laws, we warmly welcome enterprises and business startups from all countries to invest and do business in China," Xi said.
Earlier in December, Lu Wei, chief of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said that the country will not close its doors to foreign online business.
"Internet enterprises are welcome in China as long as they do not hurt our national and consumer interests," he said.
The three-day WIC event concludes on Friday, Dec. 18.
