The Path of Informationi-Zation with Chinese Characteristics

We need to persist in using informatization to drive industrialization and industrialization to promote informatization, taking the Reform and Opening-up and technological innovation as the driving force to vigorously promote informatization, and give full play to the important role of informatization in promoting the development of economic, political, cultural, social and military fields, and continuously improving the level of national informatization, promoting the rapid and sound development of China's economy and society. Informationization is a major development trend in the world today, and an important force to promote economic and social changes. Informatization is the historical process of making full use of information technology, developing and utilizing information resources, promoting information exchange and knowledge sharing, improving the quality of economic growth, and promoting the transformation of economic and social development.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have always attached great importance to informatization. In the 1990s, major informatization application projects represented by Golden Gate, Golden Card and Golden Tax were successively launched. In 1997, the National Informatization Conference was held. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 15th Central Committee of the CPC raised informatization to the height of the national strategy. The 16th CPC National Congress further made the strategic deployment of promoting industrialization with informatization, promoting informatization with industrialization, and taking a new road to industrialization. The Seventeenth National Congress of the Party pointed out that, “We need to comprehensively be clear about the new situation and new tasks for the comprehensive development of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, marketization and internationalization”, and “vigorously promote the integration of informatization and industrialization”.

The 18th CPC National Congress clearly stated that China will basically achieve industrialization in 2020 and greatly improve the level of informatization. China will adhere to the path of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics, and promote the comprehensive integration of informatization and industrialization, and the strategy for the simultaneous development of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization.