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The State Council's swift passage, in principle, of a draft regulation on Internet cafes on Wednesday is a clear signal of the authorities' determination to bring some order to the chaotic administration of the cyber bar business.
This effort was long overdue.
But the officials should seek more public opinion to guide them in their drafting of the regulation.
The overhaul was prompted by a blaze at an Internet cafe in June in Beijing that killed 24 people.
According to the Ministry of Culture, there are more than 200,000 Internet bars in China, of which only 46,000 are legally registered.
The Chinese Government, shocked by local authorities' negligence in overseeing many of these bars, ordered all 2,400 Internet cafes in Beijing to close and halted all approvals of new Internet cafes until the end of this month.
The new regulation is the crux of a drive to improve safety standards of this business.
Internet cafes provide convenient access to the public. But many unlicensed bars offered illegal services and poor safety standards.
Statistics show that the number of China's netizens has soared to 45.8 million by the end of June, while the number of computers with an Internet connection reached 16.1 million.
The gap between the two figures indicates that huge potential remains to be tapped.
Officials drafting the regulation should restrain from imposing too harsh business conditions.
After all, strengthened administration is meant to create a better order for the development of Internet cafes.
（China Daily August 16, 2002）
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