China will pay more attention to cross-border cyber attacks and improve international cooperation, the country's top cyber security watchdog said on Thursday.

The Internet is a valuable commercial tool but on too many occasions users find their privacy violated through hacking or the stealing of data, Zhang Feng, chief engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said during a major conference focusing on the issue.

The conference was organized by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team in Hohhot, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The team, under the ministry, tackles external and internal cyber attacks.

Chinese industry has placed an emphasis on boosting online security, he added.

The three-day conference started on Wednesday and attracted leading Internet and telecom companies.