Golden dawn of China's Internet industry

BEIJING - It has been more than twenty years since China first dipped its toe into the ocean of possibilities that is the Internet, a move that has grown from tiny ripples to a mighty wave of economic growth.

As the second World Internet Conference begins on Wednesday in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China has its clarified stance on the importance of being a global Internet power, and the domestic industry seems to have entered a golden era.

China has been on an upward Internet spiral for 21 years with Tencent and Alibaba becoming the beating heart of that industry.

Founded in 1998, Tencent took only 15 years to be valued at over 100 billion US dollars, the first Chinese Internet company to do so. Alibaba, a true giant of e-commerce, was valued at more than 230 billion US dollars on the first day its stocks were traded at the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014.

In 2014, online sales in China hit 1.6 trillion yuan (250 billion US dollars), and this simple financial muscle is taking the industry to a new level, at the very edge of possibilities. China is now focused on building real Internet power, not only big in numbers.

"Internet power should come hand-in-hand with the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," said President Xi Jinping at a meeting on cyber security and the informationization.

A number of policies and measures soon followed, such as the integration of traditional and new media. The number of Internet financial products now available are important for innovation and start-ups.

Cyber security remains crucial, with much for the country still to do. "There will be no more talk of national security if cyber security cannot be maintained," stated President Xi, adding that cyber security is vital to becoming a great Internet power.

From April 2014, the government got tough on cybercrime, with senior officials stressing governance of the Internet as important to advancing the rule of law.

Earlier this year when visiting Microsoft headquarters in Seattle, Xi said that China wanted a peaceful, open and cooperative cyberspace, while calling on other countries to issue public policies on Internet use.

The global vision of "joint governance" shows that China is now more accepting of the significant part it must play in the global Internet drama.

With determination to strengthen the country and to develop a sharing economy enshrined in the 13th Five-Year Plan, China's Internet industry is ready for an era of development and prosperity.