Wu made the remark at the first China Internet Conference, which opened Monday in Shanghai and will run for three days.

Wu said the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which concluded recently, proposed that "it is necessary to persist in using IT to propel industrialization, which will, in turn, stimulate IT application." The congress emphasized China "must give priority to the development of the information industry and apply IT in all areas of economic and social development." These policies are bound to accelerate economic growth and IT application across the whole society, according to Wu.

He noted the development of the Internet in China was beset with some problems, citing its impact on traditional Chinese culture due to a lack of online resources based on the Chinese language, the imperfect net and information security systems, and moral hazards.

In this respect, Wu called for efforts to develop Chinese-language-based information resources, software and databanks and to improve awareness of information security.

Wu said representative Chinese classics and archives should be digitalized and the best of Chinese and foreign cultures and modern science and technology should be spread through the Internet to make it an important front for advanced culture.

Wu also said measures should be taken to produce laws and regulations concerning information security and develop anti-virus and anti-hacker technologies.

The China Internet Conference is sponsored by the Internet Society of China.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2002)