There is a crucial need for China to make breakthroughs in core IT technology, said Liu Huaisong, president of Taiji Computer, Wednesday.

"If the nation's chips, operating systems and databases are still built on the fundamental frameworks of other countries, it is hard to say they are essentially secure," Liu added.

He said that China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), which is a major shareholder of Taiji Computer, and CETC's subsidiaries, have made industrial layout plans, covering such areas as major systems, to meet this requirement.

At the same time, CETC remains open and welcomes cooperation with other players in the field, Liu said.

According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center in August, China had 751 million internet users as of June 2017, equivalent to one-fifth of the total netizens in the world. And China's internet penetration rate was 54.3 percent, 4.6 percentage points higher than the global average level.

In the same period, 5.06 million websites have their domain name registrant in China, the report said.

Given the large size of internet use, Liu said network space security has to be enhanced by technology innovation and more proactive network defense, while the network refers not only to the internet, but also other networks, such as the controlling system in a power plant.

From his perspective, co-creating and sharing have become important as China shifts from the information technology era to the digital technology era. In this process, the industry also experiences change from vertical specialization to forming an interconnected environment.

Established in 2002, CETC is a technology corporation in China featuring defense electronics, security electronics and informatization. In 2016, revenue from its main operations was 181.3 billion yuan ($27.56 billion), with total profits of 18.16 billion yuan.