Cybersecurity. Photo: VCG

China's cyber security industry is expected to exceed 170 billion yuan ($25.8 billion) in 2020, doubling the value of the sector recorded for 2015 with the annual growth rate outpacing international average, said Zhao Zhiguo, director of Cyber Security Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Monday.

China's cyber security industry saw a rapid growth during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). The average yearly growth rate of the industry in the past five years is 17 percent, while the international average is 9 percent.

According to Zhao, since 2018, the MIIT has supported more than 200 research projects including collaborative innovation of the cyber security industry chain and construction of public service platforms. 

It has invested about 6 billion yuan of funds and generated nearly 20 billion yuan of social outcomes. Border protection, situational awareness and a number of core technologies including security auditing and mimic defense are about to achieve breakthroughs. 

Zhao said that technological innovation will be accelerated and more funds will be invested in cyber research and development. The roadmap for artificial intelligence, block-chain and other emerging technologies and network security will be laid out in the future.