Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group
The central Internet security and informatization leading group (中央网络安全和信息化领导小组) is a top CPC panel on internet security and promoting Internet technologies, with President Xi Jinping heading the group.
Premier Li Keqiang and senior official Liu Yunshan, who are both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, are the group's deputy heads.
Members of the group adopted the group's work rules and its working plan for 2014 at its first meeting.
Established on Feb. 27, 2014, the group is designed to lead and coordinate Internet security and informatization work among different sectors, as well as draft national strategies, development plans and major policies in this field.
Informatization refers to the extent by which a geographical area, an economy or a society is becoming information-based.
China has the world's largest number of Internet users but it still lags behind in development of Internet technologies. The digital gap between rural and urban areas remains large and the average bandwidth enjoyed by each Chinese is far less than that in some developed countries.
By the end of 2013, China reported about 618 million Internet users, but only 28.6 percent of them live in the countryside.
