Internet Key for Older IndustriesThe explosion of Internet use in China has concentrated the minds of many experts and managers in traditional industrial enterprises.How to combine their businesses with the Internet economy has become a pressing problem for China's State-owned enterprises, which are already being reformed. Lin Zongtang, president of the Federation of Industrial Economy in China, said at the opening of a seminar on traditional industries and the Internet Thursday in Beijing, "The Internet has not only changed the way we exchange information, but it has also had a great impact on how we think. "It allows traditional industries to use global resources, reduce production costs and expand their markets,'' Lin said. In the past 50 years, China has made great strides in the development of traditional industries such as petroleum, metallurgy, textiles and electrical appliances. In 1991, the country was the seventh largest industrial producer in the world. However, China still has a long way to go compared with developed countries. For example, throughout the 1990s only 30 per cent of Chinese-made engineering products reached international standards. "Our hope lies in the restructuring of traditional industries with the help of the Internet economy, especially when we enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the near future,'' Lin said. Wang Jue, a professor from the Central Party School, said Internet technology provided a great opportunity to upgrade and improve traditional industries in China. "E-business covers the whole process of a company,'' Wang said. Sponsored by the Federation of Industrial Economy in China and the Shanghai-based Goyeah Group, the seminar attracted more than 150 Chinese experts, business people and officials. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |