Visitors are taking photos of a mechanical arm showcased at the 2019 International Industrial Internet Conference and Exhibition in East China's Qingdao on Thursday. Experts and entrepreneurs in industries of internet and manufacturing from six countries and regions, as well as more than 20 domestic regions have been attracted to the event. Photo: IC

Emerging security challenges in the 5G era must be taken seriously and China will actively promote the development of the cybersecurity sector, representatives to the 7th Internet Security Conference (ISC 2019) said on Monday as the event opened in Beijing.

Wu Hequan, honorary chairman of ISC 2019, said that with the advent of the 5G era and the Internet of Things, 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. "However, 5G also brings new security challenges to sectors including the industrial internet, which is based on 5G and regarded as the next direction of internet development."

The development of the industrial internet blurs the boundary between the physical and virtual worlds, and ensuing cyber attacks might have much more serious impact than those in the past, said Wu.

There were several major network outages and power failures in cities in Australia, the US and other countries in July, which showed that security threats have moved from the internet to manufacturing, electricity grids, transportation, medical and other sectors, Wu noted.

Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times that security issues in the 5G era will touch many facets of society since the next-generation internet won't only connect smartphones and computers -- it will also affect buildings, automobiles and other areas.

For instance, autonomous vehicles and medical devices that operate via the internet will make any network attacks far more damaging to humans and societies, Liu said.

So far China has 802 million netizens and a digital economy of 27.2 trillion yuan ($3.86 trillion), equivalent to 32.9 percent of its GDP, Li Aidong, an official of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, told the conference on Monday.

By 2021, China's cybersecurity market is forecast to reach 92.68 billion yuan. With the arrival of 5G and artificial intelligence era, related industries are likely to have broad prospects, media reports said, citing data from Beijing-based consultancy CCID Consulting.

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

The coming 5G era has given the cybersecurity industry a critical mission, and tailored solutions for each sector must be developed by cybersecurity companies and related bodies, Liu said.