China’s borders in cyberspace are just as important as any of its physical borders, according to a new 15-page security paper released by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), China's top Internet regulator. 

The strategy seeks to guarantee “cyberspace sovereignty” and “national security”, protecting against cyber-terrorism, cyber-crime and leaking personal information. 

Cyberspace is a new frontier as important as any other according to the paper and "cyberspace sovereignty is an important part of state sovereignty.” All countries should be respected in their Internet development and management, playing equal parts in cyberspace governance without other powerful countries dictating what they should do or imposing double standards. 

The Cyberspace Administration of China went on to stress that China will use whatever means necessary -- scientific, technological, legal, diplomatic or military -- to ensure cyberspace sovereignty. No attempt to use the Internet to undermine or overturn China's national regime or sabotage sovereignty will be tolerated. 

As the home to the world's largest online population, China has about 700 million “netizens” who use the Internet to study, shop, work and access public services. Given that context, it is crucial to protect critical information infrastructure and important data. Products, services and companies used by government institutions will be subject to security checks and vetting.  

"This does not mean that we will refuse foreign products or services," said Zhao Zeliang, director of the CAC cyber-security coordination bureau. 

"Our requirements of security and controllability are not meant to raise barriers to foreign enterprises," he told a press conference at the release of the strategy. "The market will be open and transparent," he added. 

China will participate in dialogues and exchanges in cyber-security; help establish international norms and anti-terror pacts; and improve judicial collaboration. International cooperation will be enshrined in policy, law, technology, standards, emergency response and security infrastructure. 

Help will also be extended to developing countries as they build their own information infrastructure. Lu Jianwen, in charge of cyber-security at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said “priority will be given to building Africa's information highway and cooperation in communication technology”. 

In the past two years, China has been increasingly prone to cyber-attacks due to new technologies that make household information visible via the Internet, according to a survey by the consultancy firm PwC in 2016. The average number of cyber-attacks against Chinese companies surge by 969 percent between 2014 and 2016.