Chinese people benefiting from digital tech growth, white paper says

Chinese people have greatly benefited from the country's rapid growth of digital technology over the past few years, witnessing a steadily improved legal framework for cyberspace and stronger cybersecurity protection, a white paper said.

The paper, entitled "Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace", was issued by China's State Council Information Office on Monday and reported that China has developed the internet extensively with the aim of benefiting the people.

Guided by a people-first development philosophy, it said that China has promoted internet application in education, healthcare, poverty alleviation and other public services.

By the end of 2020, for example, 98 percent of all poverty-stricken villages had access to optical services, and more than 12 million impoverished people had benefited from lower internet access fees, according to the paper.

Smart Education of China, an online public service platform that opened in March this year, has connected 529,000 schools and has provided 34,000 videos, articles and handbooks related to basic education, it said.

Barrier-free access to information services has been increased to help the elderly and disabled enjoy a digital life, it said, adding that stronger measures have also been taken to protect juveniles in cyberspace.

Furthermore, the paper said that the country has stepped up efforts in strengthening law-based cyberspace governance by formulating a number of legal documents — including the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law — and by fighting internet-related violations and crimes such as telecom fraud, online gambling and cyberbullying.

It added that in recent years, China has consolidated its lines of defense against cyber threats by taking various approaches, including by intensifying risk assessment and safety inspection as well as by establishing a cybersecurity information sharing mechanism and an early-warning system.