(Yicai Global) March 4 -- Tencent  Holdings Chief Executive Pony Ma has called on China to speed up the  development of the industrial internet as part of efforts to drive its  contributions to the real economy.

The industrial internet will bring  historic opportunities and technical support to the development of the  real economy in a high-quality way, the founder of the Shenzhen-based  firm tech giant said at the annual meetings of the National People's  Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the  country's top political advisory body.

He believes that internet firms are not rivals of traditional ones but can  act as a digital helper for them and create new concepts with them  together to develop champions in their fields.

Ma is a regular at the National People's Congress and has submitted 37 written proposals over seven years.

China should make great efforts to  facilitate the establishment of informational infrastructure, Ma said,  adding that the acceleration of commercial fifth-generation mobile  networks is a great priority. Promoting cloud computing, encouraging  faster development of cloud platforms in industry, finance, government  administration, medical treatment, education and transport are other  options that will expedite the digital transformation of the real  economy, he added. 

Basic research is the foundation and  driving force for innovation, Ma said in the written proposals, adding  that high-value sci-tech innovation is key to high-quality economic  development.

Besides more investment from the  government, China should rely on the combined force of the local  government, firms, non-profit foundations and individuals to facilitate  diversified investment in core technologies and basic research. The  government should encourage firms and institutions to team up in  research and development and bring in more private firms for major  national sci-tech projects, he added.

There is a huge potential for  information technology and biotechnology firms though challenges remain,  especially in terms of social benefits, as well as the use of tech to  pursue economic interests. There is also a lack of regulation resulting  in the misuse of new tech, he said.

Science and technology can develop in a  direction where people can benefit from bringing sci-tech ethics into  full play as a means of adjustment, guidance and regulation in the  sector, Ma said. 

China should strengthen the set-up of an  ethics system, issue national ethical guidelines, guide and standardize  the application of new technologies and play an active role in the  formulation of international standards and rules. Authorities should  also promote global governance in new technologies, and accelerate  law-making and regulations in emerging technologies such as data,  artificial intelligence and genetic editing, he said.

The country should also enhance  education regarding sci-tech ethics and encourage all society to follow  the idea of technology for the social good, Ma added.

Editor: William Clegg