Official urges to strengthen management of online culture

A senior government official has urged authorities to "strengthen the construction and management of online culture" and work to foster a "healthy and positive" online environment.

Wang Chen, head of China's State Internet Information Office, made the remarks at a two-day national meeting that ended on Saturday. The meeting was attended by leading officials from provincial-level publicity departments, information offices,telecommunications regulators as well as public security organs.

Wang told the participants to use "more forceful and effective measures" to build and manage cyber culture and propel the development of cyber culture in a "healthy and orderly" way.

Wang, also deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, asked local governments to place the construction and development of the Internet onto a more prominent position while pursuing economic and social development.

He urged the officials to use the Internet to guide public opinions and promote positive social values.

In addition, Wang vowed to further crack down on pornographic and obscene contents as well as vulgar information on the Internet.

Wang's remarks came after his earlier admission in late September that social networking sites had brought both conveniences and challenges for social management.

Social networking sites, generally referring to microblogs and Facebook-like services in China, have become major platforms for social associations and information-sharing in China.

Sina Weibo, the most popular microblog service in terms of registered users, now has more than 200 million users.

With more than half a billion Internet users, China is home to the world's largest number of registered Web users. The rising popularity of microblogging has allowed segments of the population to voice their opinions in a way that has never been seen before in China.