Chinese President Xi Jinping says the country must grasp this historic opportunity in the development of information technology to strengthen its cyberspace. He spoke at a two-day national conference on cyber security and technology that opened Friday. President Xi is the head of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission. Chuck Tintehas more.

Without cyber security, there is no national security, economic stability or protection of the people's interests. That's the message from Xi Jinping. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, the government has been focusing on the development of the Internet and taking major steps to better regulate the country's cyberspace. President Xi stressed the importance of core information technology for national development and called for faster breakthroughs in this core technology.

He said achieving this goal requires support from industry, technology and policy. It's also essential to cultivate a fair market environment, strengthen protection of intellectual property and oppose monopolies and unfair competition.

Internet technology is the latest trend of productivity. President Xi pointed out the need to develop a digital economy and facilitate digital industrialization.

He said China should strengthen cooperation with countries taking part in the Belt and Road initiative to jointly develop internet infrastructure, a digital economy and cyber security to build a digital Belt and Road for the 21 century. Chuck Tinte, CGTN.