China-UK reach consensus on web economy

BEIJING, July 23 -- The State Council Information Office (SCIO) of the

People¡¯s Republic of China and the Department for Business, Innovation and

Skills (BIS) of the United Kingdom held a successful second joint government and

industry forum on opportunities and challenges of the Internet economy in

Beijing on July 22-23.

The discussions in the forum examined the future development of the

Internet economy, the opportunities for business in this evolution, especially

with the development of new mobile Internet technologies and applications.

The participants focussed in particular on the challenges posed for

governments and businesses with respect to Internet and network security and

recognised the need for international co-operation on this. They also discussed

issues of illegal and harmful content, and agreed especially the need to protect

children in the on-line world.

Officials and exerts from both countries also discussed the importance of

data protection and privacy, and the requirement for effective protection of

intellectual property rights while agreeing that a balance needs to be struck

between protecting the lawful interests of creators of digital content and the

appropriate needs of customers for on-line services SCIO and BIS agreed to

continue to work jointly on these important issues and to cooperate in the

appropriate multi-stakeholder fora in developing policies that contribute to

economic growth, that promote innovation and opportunities for business, and

that create benefits for citizens.

SCIO and BIS reaffirm their commitment to developing the UK-China Internet

Forum as a unique platform for government and business in China and the UK to

share experience, ideas, solutions and best practice. They look forward to

convening the third UK-China Internet Roundtable in UK in 2010.

(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)