Internet researchers from China and Britain agreed at a forum in Beijing on Thursday to enhance cooperation on maintaining a safe Internet environment for children.

The second China-UK Internet Roundtable-conference was held from Wednesday to Thursday.

The participants of the conference believed that the two governments and Internet enterprises from the two countries should work together to deal with the challenges brought about by online dangers to children.

They agreed it was necessary to strengthen the protection of young netizens from unhealthy information online, such as pornographic material or exposure to online predators.

Malcolm Hutty, head of public affairs of London Internet Exchange Ltd. said that there should be a "partnership approach" between government, parents and children's organizations responsible for advancing the rights for children.

Hutty said the government should create new protective laws.

"There is a big role for Internet industry ... in raising the awareness and providing ... educational messages about how to protect children," Hutty said, adding that there were responsibilities around ensuring that services aimed at children were made safe for them, particularly in chatrooms and social networking.

Susan Daley of Symantec suggested teaching children good cyber-skills in schools.

Hu Qiheng, chairwoman of the Internet Society of China (ISC), said that it was the responsibility of the government, parents and schools to safeguard the rights of young netizens.

Internet enterprises should also provide technological support to parents in installing protective software, she said.

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, by the end of 2008, about 108 million Chinese Internet users were under 19 years old.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2009)