Chinese websites commit to online integrity

Eight Internet organizations and 52 Internet giants in China signed a commitment letter on Wednesday promising to strengthen integrity and credibility by improving censorship and resisting online rumors.

The eight organizations include the Internet Society of China and China Internet Development Foundation, while the 52 web companies include Alibaba, Sina, 58.com and Xinhuanet.com, the official website of Xinhua News Agency.

Representatives from the companies said they will take measures to improve current work at an event organized by the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs.

The Internet companies promised to focus on "positive publicity," strengthen censorship of content, protect the interests of netizens, resist rumors and legally collect users' information, according to the commitment letter.

Ren Xianliang, deputy head of the office, said joint efforts are needed from the government, social organizations, Internet companies and users to clean up the Internet and ensure online integrity and credibility.

Also on Wednesday, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Public Security co-launched an online platform for receiving tips related to Internet scams in order to handle cases in a timely and uniform manner.

Chinese people have been vulnerable to Internet fraud in recent years, and the ministry has arrested a number of suspects amid the crackdown, said the ministry. Endi