Some people think that the emergence of the Internet is the biggest threat to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and the CCP has therefore been trying to control the Internet. In mainland China, the CCP still places a lot of emphasis on controlling the Internet. Outside of China, the CCP likewise influences a majority of Chinese language websites. The following is a report by Xinhua.net (the CCP’s official media site) about Hu Jintao’s speech regarding “Construction of the internet culture.” [1]

In the CCP Political Bureau’s 38th group study, Hu Jintao stressed:
“Create and manage the Internet culture with the innovation needed to meet people’s growing spiritual and cultural needs.”

Based on news on January 24, from xinhua.net, the CCP Central Committee Political Bureau completed its 38th group study on January 23 in the afternoon. The CCP Central Committee General Secretary Hu Jintao hosted the study. He emphasized: strengthen the establishment and management of the Internet culture, and fully demonstrate the importance of the Internet in socialist culture. This can help to improve the whole nation’s ideology and social ethical quality, can help to expand propaganda and ideological work, help to improve the charm and influence of the socialist construction of the ideological infrastructure, and help to enhance China’s soft power. We must adopt a positive attitude and innovative spirit to develop and spread a healthy Internet culture, truly construct the Internet well, utilize it well, and manage it well.

The content for this group study of the CCP Central Committee Political Bureau deals with the development of the global network and Internet culture, and its construction and management in China. The Central Foreign Affairs Office Internet Bureau director Li Wufeng, the Telecom Research Institute of the Ministry of Information Industry Prof. Cao Shumin, and senior engineers discussed this issue, and shared their opinions and suggestions on the Internet culture construction and management in China.

Several staff members of the CCP Central Committee Political Bureau carefully listened to their presentation, and discussed the related issues.

Hu Jintao hosted the study and gave a speech. He pointed out: the rapid development of Internet culture in China has play a positive role in spreading information and knowledge, and in promoting the party’s theoretical guidelines and policies. At the same time it has brought up the issue of our construction of socialist ideology. Whether we can actively use and effectively manage the Internet, whether we can truly use the Internet as a new tool to spread the advanced socialist culture as a new platform for public culture service, and as a new dimension for people’ healthy spiritual culture, are issues related to socialist cultural undertakings and cultural industries, related to the nation’s culture of information and the nation’s long-term stability, related to the overall situation of a socialist system with Chinese characteristics.
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Hu stressed: to strengthen the construction and management of China’s Internet culture, we must start from the overall layout of socialist development with Chinese characteristics, and the strategy of cultural development; persist in the guidance of the “Deng Xiaoping Theory” and “Thought of the Three Represents;” comprehensively implement Scientific Outlook on Development in accordance with the requirements of developing an advanced socialist culture; adhere to positive use, large scale development, and scientific management; use advanced technology to spread the advanced culture, to promote harmonious cultural construction, to better meet people’s growing spiritual and cultural needs, and to provide a powerful ideological guarantee and public media support in building a well-off society in an all-around way.

Hu Jintao introduced five requirements on strengthening Internet culture construction and management. First, we must adhere to the direction of developing an advanced socialist culture, loudly sing the main theme of ideological culture on the Internet, advocate scientific truth, spread advanced culture, promote the scientific spirit, shape good minds, and promote a healthy social environment. Second, we must improve the capability to service and supply Internet culture products, improve the scale and professionalism of the Internet culture industry, take the profound Chinese culture as the important source of the Internet culture, push our advanced culture to be digitized and Internet-ized, improve the spread of the higher grade culture of information, strive to form a group of high quality Internet products which are brand rich in the Chinese style, embodied with the modern spirit, and push the internet culture to take effect in nurturing the soul, cultivating character, and pleasing both body and mind. Third, we need to strengthen the ideological and public opinion construction on the Internet, dominate public opinion on the Internet, improve the level of guidance on the Internet, pay attention to the art of guidance, actively use the new technology, increase the intensity of positive publicity, and form positive pubic opinion. Fourth, promote construction of the Internet with civilization, purify the Internet environment, strive to create a civilized, healthy, and positive Internet culture environment, and create a sharing spiritual home. Five, we must adhere to management in accordance with law, to scientific management, and to effective management, combine the use of law, administration, economy, technology, ideological education, industry, self-regulation and other means, to speed up the dissemination of Internet information under management that is according to law, industry self-regulation, society supervision, and an orderly manner, and truly safeguard the security of the nation’s cultural information.

Hu Jintao pointed out: the CCP committees and governments at all levels should take action to strengthen the planning, improve the system, standardize management, and add staff, etc., to strengthen the development of the information industry and of Internet culture, and to truly apply the requirement of both development and management to Internet technology, industry, content, security and other aspects. It is necessary to formulate policies and create conditions to strengthen and improve the information and service closely related to people’s work and living. We must accelerate the building of Internet teams, form teams suitable for the Internet culture construction and management, such as a management team, a media guidance team, and a research and development team. We need to train a group of people with high political quality and strong technology. Government leaders at all level must pay attention to studying Internet knowledge, improving leadership and control, and striving to create a new situation for the nation’s Internet culture construction.

[1] Xinhua.net，Jan. 24, 2007
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2007-01/24/content_5648188.htm