As a major signal of China's determination to develop the information industry, a national informatization management panel headed by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji will soon be established, an official with the Informatization Office of the Beijing municipal government said on Tuesday.
The panel will include Vice-Chairman Hu Jintao, Vice-Premier Li Lanqing, and ministers of the ministries and administrations under the State Council.
Meanwhile, a special office that directly reports to the State Council will be set up to implement the central government's policies and measures in the drive for informatization.
Zeng Peiyan, minister of the State Development Planning Commission, will be assigned as director-general of the national informatization promotion office.
The plan was confirmed by Hua Pinglan, director of the Informatization Office of the municipal government of Beijing, yesterday at a forum about informatization in China.
Government officials, business leaders and technology specialists from China and California have participated in the forum organized by California's Office of Trade and Investment.
"I believe the State government will make some major moves in promoting the development of the information industry," said Hua.
The country used to have an informatization promotion office under the Ministry of Information Industry. The establishment of the new office directly led by the State Council, which supervises all ministries, will make it easier and more effective for the State to co-ordinate different government departments in carrying out the informatization policies, said Hua.
In the country's 10th Five-Year-Plan (2001-05), the State has given top priority to the development of the information industry, with a slogan of 'driving industrialization with informatization."
The information industry has been growing with an average rate of 20 per cent. In the first half of this year, the growth rate jumped to 20 per cent.
(China Daily 09/27/2001)
