EVEN LOOKING BACK ON THE REVOLUTIONARY changes the Internet has brought to our lives, the future its development will create for us is still probably beyond imagination. But what is clear is making the best use of the Internet will be of ever-greater importance to promoting sustainable economic development and social progress.

Innovation has always been a hallmark of the Internet and, with innovation rather than investment needed to drive the economy, the Internet economy will claim an increasingly important role in the nation's future, as is being discussed at the World Internet Conference taking place in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province.

Already Chinese companies that are seizing the opportunities presented by the Internet are accelerating to claim a place at the forefront of the global industry.