The sixth Light of the Internet Expo, the warm-up event of the sixth World Internet Conference, opens in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, on Oct 18, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

According to a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center on Wednesday, the number of internet users in China reached 989 million in December, an increase of 85.4 million from March, and the internet penetration rate reached 70.4 percent, up 5.9 percentage points.

At this rate the number of internet users in China could exceed 1 billion in the first half of this year, laying the foundation for the rapid development of its digital economy.

It is obvious that China's future economic development－particularly the implementation of the "dual circulation" development paradigm－will depend on improved internet penetration and quality. However, China's internet sector faces problems such as unbalanced development between urban and rural areas, a rapidly aging population, and the large income gap among netizens.

These problems, if not solved in time, will affect the internet sector's development and restrict the development of the digital economy.

China must remove factors affecting the internet sector's high-quality development.

First, the country should develop networks in urban and rural areas in a coordinated way and give full play to their roles in economic and social development.

According to the CNNIC report, the internet penetration rate is 79.8 percent in urban areas but only 55.9 percent in rural areas. So, there is a need to increase investment in rural network infrastructure and adopt a rural areas-first strategy for future network development.

Second, with the increase in China's elderly population, the development of network technology will accelerate the formation of an army of elderly non-netizens who will face problems while traveling and shopping.

So measures need to be taken to ensure the elderly share the dividends of scientific and technological development.

Third, the country should take more effective measures to increase national income, speed up tax reform, narrow the wealth gap, and improve the overall economic strength of internet users.

Students should be guided to make scientific planning and arrangement for their online time to create favorable conditions for the high-quality development of China's internet sector.