China's top information technology watchdog vowed Thursday to better cultivate the industry in the country, by introducing a more-open competition system.

"A leapfrog development of the information industry requires an open, law-based and competitive external environment," Wu Jichuan, Minister of Information Industry, said at the International Symposium on Network Economy and Economic Governance which was jointly sponsored by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and related Chinese departments.

"While continuing with overall planning to avoid repeat construction, we will fully utilize the role of the market in the resource allocation," said Wu.

"The present focus is to establish an efficient and orderly competitive environment to encourage qualified enterprises to list overseas and attract more investors into China's communications market based on China's commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO)," he said.

Meanwhile, China plans to continue its macro-regulation and market monitoring, and create a policy and legal environment that is beneficial to the development of the information industry and in compliance with international practices.

"While implementing the Telecommunications Regulations, the Telecommunications Law and regulations on foreign investment, e- commerce and information security will be released, rules and regulations on market access and interconnection will be improved, a scientific and proper tariff scheme, a universal service compensation scheme and a charging system for the use of resources will be established, so as to ensure the healthy development of the information industry, " he said.

As a developing country, China is far lagging behind many developed countries in information technologies and network service.

"In order to develop our information industry and increase the content of information technology in the national economic and social growth, we should draw upon experience from other countries while considering our own specific conditions to find a development path with our own characteristics," Wu said.

"Advanced technologies such as DWDM, 3G mobile communications and IP technologies will be used for the seamless migration and upgrading of the network to a highly efficient, flexible, economical and reliable broadband high-speed information network with high capacity, integrating voice, data, and video as the basis of a national information infrastructure oriented towards the 21st century so as to meet all social demands at all levels," he said.

In addition, China will enhance industrial integration and its overall competitiveness, build several state-level development and manufacturing bases and nurture a number of large enterprise groups with great significance, their own intellectual property and a competitive edge in domestic and overseas markets.

"We will continue to combine introduction, assimilation and innovation of technologies and make breakthroughs in core technologies such as integrated circuits and software technologies, " he said.

Experts estimate that in the coming five years, China's information industry will continue to grow at an annual rate of 20 percent, the market will double the size of the year 2000, and the share of the newly-added value of the industry in gross domestic product will reach eight percent.

(People's Daily 04/20/2001)