Skip to main content

China outlines its latest Five Year Plan, called Internet Plus

china internet plus li keqiang chinese premier
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Li Keqiang, at a 2015 foreign press conference. Image used with permission by copyright holder
China has been making Five Year Plans ever since Chairman Mao’s regime in the 1950s, but their latest promises to be the most tech-forward yet. On Saturday, Beijing unveiled its 13th such strategy to catapult China into the leading position in terms of “advanced industries,” including semiconductors, chip materials, robotics, aviation equipment, and satellites, Reuters reports. Named “Internet Plus,” the policy sets a series of goals for China to follow from this year through 2020, and depends heavily upon the power of the web and technology as a whole to reinvigorate a slowing economy and turn the nation into a digital power house.

As part of Internet Plus, China plans to bolster its research and development spending to a total of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product through 2020. This represents an increase of 0.4 percent, as such spending accounted for 2.1 percent of GDP from 2011 to 2015. In a speech announcing the new way forward, Premier Li Keqiang called this growth a “remarkable achievement.”

China will also look to decrease its dependency on foreign imports and non-domestic tech innovations, instead investing more resources into homegrown companies. Needless to say, this has already drawn protests from countries like the U.S., for whom China’s relatively untapped market presents a huge opportunity.

Moreover, Internet Plus promises that families in “large cities” will have access to 100 megabyte-per-second Internet, and that broadband services will reach 98 percent of the population living in incorporated villages.

Doubtless, this new plan will also come with increased restrictions on the sort of content the Chinese government allows their citizenry access to. Part of the plan Li announced includes more  “precise” Web management meant to “clean up illegal and bad information.” This, the government says, will “strengthen the struggle against enemies in online sovereign space and increase control of online public sentiment” by way of more “perfect cybersecurity laws and legislation.”

So look out, world. China is entering the 21st century like never before. And it’s doing it with what might be called something of a vengeance.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
How to change your language in Google Chrome on desktop
Chrome OS

Google Chrome supports a wide range of languages. While it'll default to English in most cases, there's nothing stopping you from changing its settings and displaying pages in Spanish, French, or dozens of other languages.

Changing your default language in Chrome takes only a few seconds, and the technique used is the same across Windows and Mac. Aside from changing your language, note that Chrome now gives you the option to automatically translate pages written in another language – making it easy to read content from around the globe.

Read more
23 of the best Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks
The Netflix home screen.

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming platforms for all things movies and TV shows. Home to an immense library of titles, the Netflix archive is constantly changing and evolving, and so are the many ways you can use your Netflix account. 

For instance, did you know you can access region-locked Netflix shows and flicks by using a VPN? Or that you can disable that pesky Autoplay feature? There are tons of Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks out there, so we’ve gone ahead and rounded up all of our favorites! 
Expand your streaming with a VPN

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more