Foundation to develop better Internet growth

By Cao Yin(China Daily USA)

A new organization created to advance Chinese Internet developments and keep the growing network stable will make contributions to national cyberspace projects, China’s Internet watchdog announced on Monday.

The China Internet Development Foundation, established in Beijing, is the first public fundraising foundation in the history of the Internet industry, the Cyberspace Administration of China said.

President Xi Jinping had announced in November, at the first World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, that China was pushing construction of a network that would allow China’s 1.3 billion citizens to benefit from Internet developments.

“The foundation is to echo and implement what Xi said, hoping to attract netizens to take part in our public welfare activities and make cyberspace prosperous,” said Ma Li, the foundation’s direct-or-general.

“We’ll integrate social resources and motivate the public to develop our work, giving support to the Chinese Internet industry and regulating the field while maintaining national security and social stability,” Ma said.

In March, Premier Li Keqiang put forward the “Internet Plus” plan in his government report, aiming to improve economic growth and modernize China’s industries through technology.

The foundation will contribute to educating more Internet talent and help China speak louder in international cyberspace, Ma said.

To deal with more complicated and serious online security problems, the foundation will also focus oninter national cooperation, “making efforts to build a safe, peaceful, open and cooperative cyberspace and set up a multilateral, democratic and transparent Internet governance system with other countries,” he said.

All the foundation’s work and activities, especially the public fundraising, will be conducted under a transparent and open process that avoids graft and includes citizen supervision, he added.

Qin Changgui, the foundation’s secretary-general, said the foundation will raise funds, support social institutions, develop Internet training for the public and encourage individuals to participate in network governance.

As the foundation was being established, officials contacted some foreign governments and companies, including some in Germany and Belgium, to build Internet cooperation and enforce the premier’s “Internet Plus” plan, said Li Shilin, the foundation’s deputy director-general.

The foundation has an agreement with Belgium to develop China-Europe Internet forums, build an Internet strategy research center and create a bilingual database to solve cyberspace problems, Li said.

“We’ll also help more Chinese Web companies and technology enterprises go abroad, as well as attract more advanced Internet corporations to come to our home,” Li said.

The foundation is planning to create a public fundraising platform online to make it convenient for people to donate, and it will also develop some Internet activities especially for youngsters, urging the youth all over the word to communicate, he said.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 08/04/2015 page3)