Time: March 12, 2012
Main content:
　The Third Plenary Meeting of the Fifth Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress was held on yesterday afternoon in the Great Hall of the People. Chairman Wu Bangguo was entrusted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to present the report on its work.
　“Improving the system of Internet-related laws” was proposed for the first time.
　Strengthening Internet-related legislation does not mean hindering Internet development.
　Extract from the report: Improve the system of Internet-related laws and promote a healthy cyberspace culture, and safeguard public interests and national information security.
　Background: The latest statistics of CNNIC show that as of the end of December 2011, the number of Chinese netizens reached 513 million, the Internet penetration reached 38.3%, and the number of mobile netizens reached 356 million. In 1994, China promulgated the first computer-safety-related regulation--Regulations of the People’s Republic of China for the Safety Protection of Computer Information Systems, and then the Interim Provisions Governing the Management of the Computer Information Networks in the People's Republic of China Connecting to the International Network and Measures for Security Protection Administration of the International Networking of Computer Information Networks. On December 28, 2000, the National People’s Congress adopted Decision on Maintaining Internet Security. In 2002, a series of departmental rules such as Administration of the Maintenance of Secrets in the International Networking of Computer Information Systems Provisions and Administration of Internet Information Services Procedures were promulgated successively.