China is ramping up efforts to promote further integration of big data with the real economy and foster the long-term growth of the country, said an official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

More efforts should be made to advance the national big data strategy, optimize the network infrastructure, develop regional data centers, promote the development and industrialization of core big data technologies and safeguard data security, according to Li Guanyu, deputy director of the information and software service division at the ministry.

"We will continue to boost the integration of information and industrialization management systems. Together with related ministries, we will enable a better environment and ultimately boost the development of big data," Li said on Wednesday at a news conference in Beijing.

Li stressed that as part of its efforts to integrate big data with the real economy, the ministry will continue to support the upcoming 2018 China International Big Data Industry Expo.

The fourth big data expo is set to be held from May 26 to 29 in Guiyang, Guizhou province. The expo will be the latest opportunity to market the State-backed big data hub's benefits.

With a key focus on the digital economy and big data development, the 60,000-square-meter expo is set to attract more than 400 companies and over 50,000 visitors. The expo will attract a wide range of leading domestic and overseas internet and tech tycoons and companies, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and foreign giants such as Apple Inc and Intel Corp.

Five high-level talks and dozens of professional forums are planned during the event, covering topics related to artificial intelligence, data security, internet of things, sharing economy, poverty alleviation and block chain.

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/02/2018 page17)