Comrade Zheng Bijian’s proposal on building a world-class cyber great power deserves careful study.

郑必坚同志关于建设世界一流网络强国的建议值得认真研究。

“Comrade Zheng Bijian’s Proposal on Building a World-Class Cyber Great Power Deserves Careful Study,” Central Committee, July 28, 2013

Executive Summary

A July 2013 Central Committee document called for careful study of Zheng Bijian’s proposal to build a world-class Cyber Great Power. Addressed to senior civilian and military leaders, it placed cybersecurity within a national strategic framework connecting security, economic development, and social stability. Its call for clear strategy, advanced technology, industrial leadership, and offensive and defensive capabilities offers an early window into the ambitions behind China’s emerging cyber strategy.

Before the Public Declaration: A Strategy Takes Shape

Zheng Bijian’s 2013 proposal for China to become a world-class Cyber Great Power within ten years received a favorable response in a Central Committee document dated July 28, 2013. The document called his proposal worthy of careful study and urged a national strategic approach to cybersecurity.

The document’s opening directed four senior leaders to read it: Vice Premiers Zhang Gaoli and Ma Kai, and Central Military Commission Vice Chairmen Xu Qiliang and Fan Changlong. All four were Politburo members; Zhang also served on its Standing Committee. All four leaders annotated the document positively and signed it.

That civilian–military readership matters. It places the discussion across both spheres of national leadership, while the text itself connects cybersecurity to national security, economic development, and social stability. This is an early indication that China’s cyber ambitions were being considered across civilian and military responsibilities—it was a “fused” domain from the start.

In February 2014, Xi Jinping publicly called for building China into a Cyber Great Power at the first meeting of the Central Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization. Read alongside that public declaration, the July 2013 document provides an important glimpse of the preceding leadership discussion.

Clear Strategy, Advanced Technology, Offensive and Defensive Capabilities

Author’s Note: A partial translation of the July 2013 Central Committee document on Cyber Great Power follows below. Only the first page is available.

Comrade Zheng Bijian’s Proposal on Building a World-Class Cyber Great Power Deserves Careful Study

郑必坚同志关于建设世界一流网络强国的建议值得认真研究

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China / 中国共产党中央委员会

July 28, 2013

For Comrades Gaoli, Ma Kai, Qiliang, and Changlong to read.

请高丽、马凯、其亮、长龙同志阅。

Comrade Zheng Bijian’s proposal on building a world-class Cyber Great Power deserves careful study.

郑必坚同志关于建设世界一流网络强国的建议值得认真研究。

Cybersecurity concerns national security, economic development, and social stability. We must approach it comprehensively at the national strategic level, design rules effectively, adopt coordinated policy measures, make use of the institutional advantage of concentrating resources on major undertakings, identify gaps, increase investment, and make vigorous efforts to catch up. We must strive to build our country into a Cyber Great Power with a clear strategy, advanced technology, industrial leadership, and both offensive and defensive capabilities.

网络安全事关国家安全、经济发展和社会稳定，要从国家战略层面整体布局，搞好规则设计，综合施策，发挥集中力量办大事的制度优势，找准差距，加大投入，奋起直追，努力把我国建成战略清晰、技术先进、产业领先、攻防兼备的网络强国。

Author’s Note: The four leaders are identified by their given names in the document. They are (Zhang) Gaoli, Ma Kai, (Xu) Qiliang, and (Fan) Changlong.

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