ASSESSMENTS

Bending the Internet: China Weighs Commercial Growth Against Government Control

Jun 20, 2018 | 09:00 GMT

A demonstrator shows support for the Chinese government at a counterprotest held in response to an Amnesty International demonstration over human rights abuses and online censorship in China.

A demonstrator shows support for the Chinese government at a counterprotest in London in 2015. The rally was in response to an Amnesty International demonstration over human rights abuses and online censorship in China.

(BEN PRUCHNIE/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • China's government will try to drive economic growth with the Internet Plus initiative, a plan to integrate innovations such as automation, big data, artificial intelligence and the internet of things into all aspects of the country's economy.
  • In doing so, Beijing will maintain a firm hand over the internet using an array of strict laws and interventions.
  • The Chinese state, however, will also try to avoid restricting tech companies to the point of discouraging the innovation it needs to bring Internet Plus to fruition.

Beijing considers the internet an opportunity as much as a threat. The economic incentive to keep the it free enough to foster innovation is huge for China. Some of the world's most technologically proficient internet and tech firms, in fact, operate behind the "Great Firewall." The rise of companies such as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent has helped sustain China's economic growth, and their continued success is a central component in the country's long-term online strategy, dubbed Internet Plus by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang....

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