China’s President Xi Jinping: China must speed up plans for domestic Internet alternatives

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that China must accelerate its plans ‘to replace insecure Internet technology with domestic alternatives’. This approach has been met by considerable opposition by foreign businesses, who fear that the measures ‘could give preferential treatment to Chinese companies supplying hardware and software, or that foreign firms could be required to source incompatible government-approved technology or products with security weaknesses’. In response, Chinese officials claim that businesses should not worry about the policies, and that the country instead focuses on ‘the real and growing security risks it faces’, such as hacking and terrorism.