Conference pools wisdom for building better cyberspace

TIANJIN, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- A conference on fostering an internet civilization held in north China's Tianjin Municipality has offered insight into building a better cyberspace.

The two-day 2022 China Internet Civilization Conference consisted of a main forum, a forum on developing integrity in cyberspace, 10 sub-forums, an exhibition and themed events.

During the event, which ended on Monday, participants exchanged views on the achievements of China's internet civilization construction and discussed how to further enrich cyberspace with advanced culture and the spirit of the times.

As a major component of social etiquette and civility under new circumstances, internet civilization is a key area of enhancing China's strength in cyberspace.

With the world's largest population of internet users, China is on its way to making a transition from quantity to quality in cyberspace development.

Over the past decade, the country has produced notable achievements in building a well-governed and secure cyberspace, with improved infrastructure, technological breakthroughs and a booming digital economy.

Between 2012 and 2021, China's netizens grew from 564 million to over 1.03 billion, ranking first in the world.

Meanwhile, China's cyberspace has shown increasing improvements, and efforts to improve ethical standards and advance civility in cyberspace have delivered notable progress since 2012.

However, in the process of rapid development of the internet, problems such as privacy leakage and data loopholes also emerge, which not only damages the vital interests of netizens, but also hinders the healthy development of the internet, according to Zuo Xiaodong, a professor from the University of Science and Technology of China.

To tackle these challenges, China has during the past decade improved its cyberspace management and accountability mechanisms, created more online content that injected positive energy into the whole society, and advanced its cyberspace governance system.

Information technology is constantly changing and advancing, which brings new challenges to network security. In recent years, with the continuous development of China's network security protection capability, it has become a consensus to build a network security barrier, said Xu Jinduo, an executive from Chinese internet security firm Qihoo 360.

China has further strengthened its cybersecurity system, shoring up the protection of key infrastructure, data security and personal information.

As part of the effort to accelerate the rule of law in cyberspace, over 100 relevant laws and regulations have been promulgated, with effective law enforcement put in place.

The conference was co-hosted by the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress, the Communist Party of China Tianjin Municipal Committee, and the Tianjin Municipal People's Government.

The first China Internet Civilization Conference was held in Beijing in 2021.