Government officials and industry executives pledged yesterday to
further promote development of e-governance and e-business in
China, which experienced rapid growth during the period of the SARS
outbreak.
Acknowledging the unexpected role Internet-based facilities and
telecommunications played in the fight against SARS
(severe acute respiratory syndrome), an official of the State
Council Informatization Office said China will spare no effort to
enhance the application of information technology.
Qu
Weizhi, vice-director of the office, said e-governance in
SARS-stricken regions in China has facilitated the gathering and
dissemination of information pertaining to the virus, and
e-commerce has enabled millions of people that were too scared to
go shopping in supermarkets to buy supplies without leaving their
residences.
For example, in April when SARS was particularly prevalent, US$300
million worth of transactions were conducted online at the 93rd
Chinese Export Commodities Fair in Guangdong.
"Informatization has become an indispensable and effective means
for the government to improve its capacity of dealing with
emergencies," Qu told a seminar organized by the Boao Forum For
Asia, to review the lessons for the IT sector in the aftermath of
SARS in Beijing.
But many Chinese local governments and businesses still lack the
necessary infrastructure and expertise to jump on the
informatization bandwagon, she said.
To
remedy this situation, the vice-director said her office will see
to it that an e-governance platform at the central level will be
linked with those of local governments, to ensure the accurate and
timely flow of information.
In
addition, the government will help more enterprises get
Internet-enabled, and speed up expansion of e-business by working
out a chain of accessory policies pertaining to online payments,
credit, safety certifications and logistics, she said.
Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the Boao Forum, said that as
shown during the SARS epidemic period, the Web-based economy is
bound to have a promising future in China and beyond.
Commenting on the withdrawal of some foreign businesses from
China's IT sector for fear of "too much concentrated investment"
there, Vice-Minister of Information Industry Xi Guohua said there
is still huge potential to be tapped in the country's IT
industry.
The country's policies on foreign investment in the IT sector have
been consistent and will not be changed because of the impact of
SARS, he said.
(China Daily July 4, 2003)