The information industry will become a strategic industry and
a new area for the growth of China's economy in the 21st century,
a senior official said Wednesday.
That is why China
attaches great importance to the development of the industry,
said Wu Jichuan, minister of information industry, at the
opening ceremony of the 2000 International Forum on the Information
Industry, jointly sponsored by his ministry and Xinhua News
Agency.
Wu said that with
the globalization of the world economy and the rapid growth
of information networks, China's information industry is facing
both development opportunities and fierce competition.
According to him,
China is drafting its 10th five-year plan for social and economic
development during the 2001-2005 period. The information industry
is expected to grow at annual rate of some 20 percent in the
next five years.
Total sales of
IT products are expected to double the present level in 2005,
with industry's value-added output accounting for 5 percent
of that year's GDP. The minister believed that this forum
of leading Chinese and international scholars and corporate
leaders will play an important role in helping both the government
and enterprises in promoting industrial development with information
technology.
Vice President
of Xinhua, Cai Mingzhao, said at the opening ceremony that
despite the challenges that they face in the age of the Internet,
conventional media are enjoying greater development provided
by Internet technology. He said conventional media organizations
will be able to win more Web clients while securing their
original users by seizing this opportunity to provide on-line
services.
Vice Minister of
Information Industry Qu Weizhi said China will adopt a new
way of thinking in developing the information industry in
the future with emphasis placed on technological innovation
in order to boost economic growth and improve social services
with information technology.
Priority will be
given to the development of the software industry, microelectronics
industry and network products to meet the needs for building
IT infrastructure facilities, upgrading traditional industries
and developing e-commerce and e-administration, she said.
Efforts will also
be made to foster a number of enterprise groups that can compete
with international companies and support the development of
China's information industry. Nearly 400 Chinese and international
scholars, experts and business representatives attended the
meeting, including those from IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Sun and
other renowned IT companies. The attendants discussed a wide
range of issues such as the development of the IT industry
in China and the listing of Chinese high-tech companies on
overseas stock markets.
(Xinhua 08/24/2000)
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