The 7th Internet Security Conference (ISC 2019) opened on Monday with the theme, "Cyber Warfare, Big Ecology, Broad Security." Representatives of the conference noted that security challenges brought about by the 5G era should be taken seriously, and that China will actively promote the development of cybersecurity industries.

Wu Hequan, honorary chairman of the conference, said that with the advent of the 5G era and the Internet of Things (IoT), security issues are becoming increasingly critical.

"Not only is 5G faster than 4G, it supports more types of services and has a wider range of applications," Wu said, "but it also brings in new security challenges to sectors including industrial internet, which is based on 5G and is regarded as the next direction of internet development."

He noted that the development of the industrial internet blurs the boundary between the physical and virtual worlds, and any subsequent cyber attacks might cause more a serious impact than in the past.

There were major instances of network outages in large areas, and power failures occurred in cities in Australia and the US, among other countries, which indicated that security threats have spread from online spaces to areas such as manufacturing, electric systems, transportation and the medical sector, Wu noted.

For China, there are 802 million netizens and a digital economy of 27.2 trillion yuan ($3.86 trillion), accounting for 32.9 percent of its GDP, Li Aidong, an official of China's Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, told the conference on Monday.

By 2021, China's cybersecurity market will reach 92.68 billion yuan, and related industries have broad prospects to be aided by 5G era and the dawn of artificial intelligence, media reports said, citing data from Beijing-based consultancy firm CCID Consulting.

The world's internet has been highly interconnected and cybersecurity challenges cannot be solved by a single enterprise or country, Li said. China will accelerate the development of its cybersecurity guidelines, help enterprises play a major role in technology research and development, and promote the development of related industries in an open environment.