THE HAGUE, April 16 -- The United Nations (UN) has a leading and crucial role to play in coordinating a country's use of cyberspace, said Chen Xu, Chinese ambassador to The Netherlands, at the 2015 Global Conference on CyberSpace (GCCS) which opened here Thursday.

"Universally-recognized fundamental norms and principles enshrined in the UN Charter, such as sovereign equality, non-intervention of domestic affairs, no threat or use of force, as well as the peaceful settlement of international disputes, are also relevant to behavior of states in cyberspace," declared the Chinese diplomat at the focus session on international peace and security of this cyberspace summit.

About 1,800 participants from over 100 countries are at the two-day conference at the World Forum here to discuss various key issues such as how to reinforce international political cooperation and apply international law in order to avoid conflicts and maintain a stable cyber domain.

For China, "the UN has played a leading and crucial role in maintaining international peace and security over the years, it should also play such a role and serve as the main vehicle to coordinate states behavior in cyberspace. The UNGGE could make its due contribution in this respect," said the Chinese ambassador, head of the Chinese delegation to the conference.

Chen was referring to the UN Group of Governmental Experts (UNGGE) on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security, appointed in 2012.

The Chinese ambassador recalled that China, Russia and others had submitted a draft of an international code of conduct for information security to the UN General Assembly in 2011, and the draft was updated in January 2015.

"The draft puts forward a comprehensive set of proposals of international norms on responsible behavior in cyberspace," he added, saying he welcomed all exchanges of views related to the draft.

On rights and obligations, the Chinese diplomat emphasized that states have independent rights to adopt Internet-related public policy as well as laws and regulations in light of their national circumstances.

"All states have the equal right to participate in the global governance and rule-making process. At the same time, when a state exercises its own sovereignty, it should respect the sovereignty of other states, refraining from intervening in their domestic affairs, or allowing its territory to be used for acts which will jeopardize the rights and interests of other states," he said.

As for international cooperation, Chen noted that sovereign states are duty bound to work together to build a peaceful, safe, open and cooperative cyberspace so as to promote international peace and security.

"Cyber terrorism constitutes a real threat to international peace and security. In 2013, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2129, which underlines the need to prevent terrorists from exploiting technology, communications, and resources to incite support for terrorist acts," he said, listing uploading terrorist video and audio programs to disseminate extremist ideology, and to recruit, fund, or plan terrorist acts as areas where a joint effort was required.

Chen also insisted on capacity-building in developing countries to eliminate the "digital divide" which seriously affects ability of developing countries to cope with various security threats, including those relating to cyberspace.

"The international community needs to promote reform of international Internet governance in line with multilateral, transparent, and democratic principles and to assist developing countries in their efforts to enhance capacity-building," concluded Chen.

Earlier in the summit, Wang Xiujun, Deputy Minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, reaffirmed that the Chinese government attaches great importance to and actively promotes the development of Internet.

"Internet is the common wealth, resource, and home of human beings. It is our common responsibility to build, use and manage the Internet in a wise manner," said Wang.

In 2014, the total number of Internet users in China was 650 million, with an annual revenue of 1.8 trillion euros (about 1.93 trillion U.S. dollars) in the electronic information industry and the market capitalization of 554.7 billion euros for the listed Chinese Internet companies, four of which are among the global top ten.

At present, the Chinese government is developing the "Internet Plus" action plan to promote the healthy development of e-commerce, industrial Internet and Internet finance.

GCCS 2015 is a follow-up to earlier conferences in London (2011), Budapest (2012) and Seoul (2013). Focusing on promoting a free, open and secure Internet, the conference brings in representatives from governments, the private sector, and civil society to promote practical cooperation in cyberspace, to enhance cyber capacity-building, and to discuss norms for responsible behavior in cyberspace.