China to regulate Internet, support development

BEIJING -- One of China's top economic planners said here Thursday that China's recent regulatory measures on the Internet are in line with international practices.

"Development of the Internet requires regulation," Xu Shaoshi, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress annual session.

Xu advocated a fair and orderly development of the Internet in China, which has the world's largest netizen population of 649 million.

Xu's comments came one day after China justified the drafting of its first counter-terrorism law, which was criticized by US President Barack Obama, who claimed that one of the articles of the draft law requires the technology firms in China to hand over encryption keys, the passcodes that protect data.

Beijing has slammed Obama's accusation, saying that domestic legislation is something within one country's sovereignty.

Xu said he was not worried that China's Internet regulation will affect any law-abiding companies.

"We will better regulate the Internet and support its development in China," he said.