A top Beijing official called for stronger management of the Internet Wednesday at a government-organised conference condemned by rights campaigners as a Chinese attempt to promote its online controls globally. China, which censors online content it deems to be politically sensitive, opened the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen with the country's biggest Internet companies in attendance alongside a sprinkling of foreign executives and officials.
Participants at the three-day conference in the tiny eastern Chinese town have unfettered Internet access to sites denied to the rest of the country, such as Facebook and Twitter, attendees said.
As well as the social media giants, Beijing blocks some Western media websites including the New York Times and search engine Google, among others.
Vice Premier Ma Kai, the highest-ranking Chinese official attending, said the Internet could help spur the healthy development of the world's second largest economy but made clear the medium should be under control of the state.
"The Chinese government will strengthen administration of the Internet under the law," Ma said. "A well-managed Internet concerns state sovereignty, dignity and development interests, and international security and social stability," he said.
Ahead of the conference, rights group Amnesty International described the gathering as a chilling attempt by Beijing to promote its own domestic Internet rules as a model for global regulation. China imposes strict limits on freedom of expression, and rights groups say it uses state security as a pretence to crack down on political dissent.
"China appears eager to promote its own domestic Internet rules as a model for global regulation. This should send a chill down the spine of anyone that values online freedom," William Nee, China researcher at London-based Amnesty, said in a statement.