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.

(chinadaily.com.cn July 24, 2009)