All Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, municipal people’s governments, and all the ministries and commissions of and the departments affiliated to the State Council:

　　As a highly collective and integral application of new-generation information technologies, the Internet of Things is characterized by strong permeability, great exemplary effect and substantial comprehensive benefits. Promoting the application and development of the Internet of Things can push production and social management method towards the direction of intellectualization, refinement and networking, enhance the national economy and the informatization of social life and raise the level social management and public service. Moreover, it can spur the development of relevant subjects, strengthen technical innovation and boost industrial restructuring and the transformation of development modes. Therefore, the Chinese government has defined the Internet of Things as an essential part of strategic emerging industries. At present, the Internet of Things is still at the initial stage of development around the world, which has created promising outlook and precious opportunities for the technical development and industrial application of the Internet of Things. Through years of development, China has established a solid groundwork in the technical development, standard development, industrial cultivation and industrial application of the Internet of Things. Nevertheless, there are also some urgent problems to be addressed, such as the improvement of core technologies, the weak industrial foundation, the potential threat to the security of network information, and unplanned construction in some places. To facilitate a sound and orderly development of the Internet of Things in China, we hereby propose the following suggestions:

I. Guidelines, Basic Principles and Development Objectives

(1) Guidelines.

Under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping’s Theory, the Important Thought of “Three Represents” and the Scientific Concept of Development, we should enhance overall planning and focus on the practical needs of social and economic development. Meanwhile, we should steer around the market, take enterprises as the main bodies, make breakthroughs in key technologies, promote demand application and develop industries. With security as the prerequisite, we should create an environment for development, develop creative service modes, improve standards and rule, make rational plans, enhance the sharing of resources, and deepen the relationship between the army and the common people. Last but not least, we should build an internationally competitive industrial system of the Internet of Tings, promote the constant and sound development of the Internet of Things in an orderly way and make contribution to the sustainable development of the economic society.

(2) Basic Principles 

Overall planning and coordination. We should know well about the overall and strategic issues about the development of the Internet of Things, strengthen rational planning and enhance the coordinative development of the application, technology, industry and standard of the Internet of Things. Additionally, we should enhance the cooperation and consistency among departments, industries and regions, and effectively integrate economic development into the construction of national defense.

Innovative development. We should reinforce the foundation for innovation, raise the level of innovation, spur the development and industrialization of key technologies, accomplish cluster development and cultivate backbone enterprises. Moreover, we should broaden the vision of development, create innovative commercial modes and push forwards emerging service industries. Meanwhile, we should develop innovation ability, improve the platform of public services, and establish a technologically innovative system which concentrates on enterprises and combines enterprises, university and research institutions. 

Demand orientation. Proceeding from the promotion of economic and social development and the maintenance of national security, we should make an overall deployment, achieve gradual and effective progress, give priority to major demonstration application and facilitate the breakthroughs of the key technologies of the Internet of Things and the large –scale development of the industry. In competitive fields, we should stick to the marketization of application publicity. In social management and public service, we should enthusiastically introduce the market mechanism and strengthen the internal momentum for the development of the Internet of Things.

Orderly enhancement. On the basis of practical needs, industrial foundation, and informatization conditions, we should highlight regional features and boost the continuous and sound development of the Internet of Things in a targeted and planned way. Furthermore, we should intensify the integration and coordination of resources, increase the efficiency of resources and avoid redundant construction. 

Security and controllability. We should enhance the awareness of security, with emphasis on the secure management of information systems and data protection. Meanwhile, we should augment the security assessment, risk evaluation and secure protection of the major applications and systems of the Internet of Things and guarantee the security and controllability of the major infrastructure, important business systems and prior filed application of the Internet of Things. 

(3) Development Objectives

General objective. We will attain an extensive application of the Internet of Things in economic and social fields, master the core technologies of the Internet of Things and form a secure and controllable and internationally competitive industrial system of the Internet of Things, so as to become an importance force for promoting the intellectualization and sustainable development of the economic society. 

Immediate objectives. By 2015, we will have accomplished the large-scale demonstration application of the Internet of Things in the essential fields of the economic society, made some breakthroughs in core technologies, established an industrial system of the Interne of Things and significantly strengthened ability to achieve security. 

– Collaborative innovation. We will make marked improvement in the technical development and innovation ability involving the Internet of Things, make breakthroughs in the core technologies of the perceptive field, significantly narrow the gap between China and the developed countries, strive for internationally advanced level in the network communication field, and lead the world in terms of the key technologies of the information processing field. Additionally, we will attain the collaborative development of technical innovation, management innovation and commercial mode innovation and effectively gather and utilize innovation resources and elements. 

– Demonstration application. We will achieve the pilot demonstration application of the Internet of Things in such fields as industry, agriculture, energy conservation, environmental protection, commercial circulation, transportation, energy, public security, social undertakings, urban management, safe production and national defense. Meanwhile, we will make marked enhancement in the large-scale application in some fields and develop a group of advantageous enterprises in the application services of the Internet of Things. 

– Industrial system. We will develop a group of backbone enterprises and a group of small and medium-sized innovation-oriented ones featuring commission, excellence, distinctiveness and newness, form a group of distinct industrial clusters, create a complete industrial chain of the Internet of Things and build an industrial system of the Internet of Things. 

– Standard system. We will make some basic common standards, key technology standards and major application standards urgently necessary for the development of the Internet of Things and set up a standard system to meet the need for the large-scale application and industrialization of the Internet of Things.

– Security assurance. We will improve the security-level protection system, establish mechanisms for the secure testing, risk evaluation, security vigilance and emergent settlement of the Internet of Things, enhance the security assurance ability of the infrastructure, major systems and important information of the Internet of Things, and create an application system of the Internet of Things with a secure and workable system and with secure and reliable data.

II. Major Tasks

(1) Quicken technical development and break the industrial bottlenecks. With the aim of mastering principles and achieving advanced technical innovation, we should control the direction of technical development, focus on the urgent needs in application and industry, define development focuses, and enhance the development and industrialization of intellectualized sensors featuring low cost and energy consumption and high accuracy and reliability. Moreover, we will make breakthroughs in such basic common technologies as the core chips, software and instrumentation of the Internet of Things, quicken the development and innovation of such key technologies as sensor network, smart terminal, big data processing, smart analysis and service integration, and push forwards the integrative development of the Internet of Things, new-generation mobile communication, cloud computing, Next Generation Internet and satellite communication. Meanwhile, we will make full use of and integrate the existing innovation resources, create a groups of technological development labs, engineering centers and enterprise technology centers of the Internet of Things, promote the cooperation between application units and relevant suppliers of technologies, products and services, strengthen collaborative enhancement and break the bottlenecks of the industrial development.

(2) Promote application demonstration and economic development. With emphasis on such essential fields like industry, agriculture, commercial circulation, energy conservation, environmental protection and safe production and such important infrastructure as transportation, energy and water conservancy, we should center round production, manufacturing, commercial circulation, logistical delivery, and operation and management procedure, accelerate the integrative application of the technologies of the Internet of Things and develop a group of representative application demonstration projects featuring remarkable effects, strong demonstration and high correlation. Furthermore, we should actively take advantage of the technology of the Internet of Things to improve traditional industries, facilitate refinement management and rational decision-making, increase production and operation efficiency and enhance energy conservation and emission reduction. Meanwhile, we should ensure safe production, achieve innovation in development mode and promote industrial upgrading. 

(3) Improve social management and public services. With concentration on public safety, social security, medical care, urban management and livelihood services, we should center round innovation in management and service modes, implement representative application demonstration projects of the Internet of Things and establish a more convenient, efficient, secure and reliable intellectualized system of social management and public service. Additionally, we should give full play to the advantages of the Internet of Things technologies, spur the informatization of social management and public service, expand the scope of service, raise the level of management and service, and improve the living conditions of people. 

(4) Highlight regional features and strive for a rational and orderly development. We should lead and urge local governments to determine the development direction of the Internet of Things according to their conditions. On the basis of the features and advantages of scientific capabilities, application foundation and industrial parks, we should make rational plans, adjust measures to local conditions and promote the development of the Internet of Things in an orderly way. For those regions with a firm foundation in informatization and information industries, we should boost the development, industrialization and demonstration application of the Internet of Things technologies; for those regions with a relatively weak groundwork in informatization and information industries, we should pay attention to popularize mature applications of the Internet of Things. Moreover, we should quicken the establishment of Wuxi National Sensing Innovation Demonstration Zone, utilize new-generation information technologies like the Internet of Things to build smart cities, enhance overall planning and focus on effects and distinctive features.

(5) Enhance overall design and improve standard system. We should reinforce overall coordination and rely on trans-departmental and trans-industrial standardization coordination mechanisms to promote the establishment of the standard system of the Internet of Things. With the priority to urgent needs and general characters, we should quicken the making of basic common standards, key technology standards, and major application standards of coding identification, ports, data and information security. Meanwhile, we should push forwards the standardization based on the cooperation between the army and the common people, and make the standards that are applicable to both the army and the common people. Last but not least, we should encourage and support domestic institutions to participate in international standardization and improve the international status of independent technical standards. 

(6) Develop core industries and strengthen supportive abilities. We should quicken the development of core industries related to the Internet of Things, raise the development level of perceptive identification manufacturing industry, establish a complete industrial chain of communication network manufacturing and service of the Internet of Things, and boost the industries in relation to the application and software of the Internet of Things. Meanwhile, we should vigorously nurture internationally competitive backbone enterprises of the Internet of Things, enthusiastically develop innovation-orientated small and medium-sized enterprises, build industrial bases and parks with distinctive features, improve the system of public services in the industry and form industrial clusters with strong competitiveness. In addition, we should enhance the combination of industrial cultivation and application demonstration, encourage and support the enterprises and scientific research units of device manufacturing, software development and service integration to participate in the projects of application demonstration.

(7) Create new commercial modes and cultivate emerging industries. We should actively explore new commercial modes that would benefit both the upper and lower streams of the industrial chain of the Internet of Things, vigorously support enterprises to develop the special and value-added services of the Internet of Things which help increase market needs, promote the marketization of application services, lead the development of the service outsourcing industry and nurture emerging service industries. Apart from that, we should encourage and support the enterprises of telecommunication operation, information service and system integration to play a role in the operation and popularization of the application demonstration projects of the Internet of Things. 

(8) Reinforce protection management and ensure information security. We should enhance the information security management and data protection of the Internet of Things, facilitate the development of information security technologies, promote the establishment of information security assurance system, build a mechanism of supervision, inspection and secure evaluation, and effectively ensure the safety and controllability of the information collection, transmission, processing and application of the Internet of Things. Meanwhile, the system solutions, core devices and operation services of the important applications of the Internet of Things related to national public security and infrastructure must be secure and controllable. 

(9) Strengthen resource integration and promote collaborative sharing. We should make full use of existing public communication and network infrastructure to undertake the application of the Internet of Things, enhance the interconnection and mutual communication, resource sharing and business collaboration between information systems, so as to avoid new separated information systems. Furthermore, we should emphasize the smart analysis and comprehensive utilization of information resources and attach equal importance to data collection, data processing and comprehensive application. Last but not least, we should improve the investment profit analysis and risk evaluation of the construction projects of the Internet of Things and avoid redundant construction and irrational investment. 

III. Assurance Measures 

(1) Enhance overall planning and coordination to form collaborative development forces. We should establish and improve development, overall planning and coordination mechanisms of the Internet of Things among departments, industries, regions and military bases, give full play to the role of the joint conference system of the development of the Internet of Things, analyze major problems and make policies and action plans in a coordinative way, With focus on the overall planning of application popularization, technical development, the making of standards, the construction of industrial chains, the development of infrastructure, information security assurance, wireless frequency resource distribution and utilization, we should create a resource-sharing pattern where various parts support and complement each other. Additionally, we should strengthen the connection and coordination among relevant plans, major scientific and technological projects and special projects of industrialization of the Internet of Things, make a rational arrangement of the major projects of application demonstration and industrialization of the Internet of Things, and promote supportive facilities of industrial chains and regional labor division and cooperation. 

(2) Create a beneficial environment for development. We should establish a policy system which contributes to the application popularization, innovation encouragement and orderly competition of the Internet of Things, make and improve the laws and regulations about information security and privacy protection, and build a market access mechanism which encourages fair entry of diverse capitals. Furthermore, we should quicken the establishment of public service platforms of standard, inspection and certification related to the Internet of Things, improve supporting service systems, enhance the protection for intellectual property right, undertake the analysis and discussion about the intellectual property right of the technologies in relation to the Internet of Things, and promote the patent patterns related to the Internet of Things.

(3) Increase supportive fiscal and taxation policies. We should reinforce the fiscal support of the central government, give full play to national plans and major projects of science and technology, and take advantage of the supportive policies like the special funds for the development of strategic emerging industries as well as the special funds for the development of the Internet of Things. Moreover, we should focus attention on the development and industrialization of core technologies of the Internet of Things, and give great support for the construction of standard systems, innovation ability platforms and major application demonstration projects. Last but not least, we should support the enterprises of the Internet of Things which meet the existing preferential taxation policies for software and integration circuits to enjoy relevant preferential policies and encourage those who have been defined as high-new technology enterprises to enjoy relevant preferential policies about income tax according to laws and regulations.

(4) Improve the policies for investment and financing. We should channel financial capitals, risk investment and civil capitals into the application and industrial development of the Internet of Things, quicken the establishment of multi-level assurance systems about financial investment and social capital investment, and increase the assurance and support for the financing of the enterprises of the Internet of Things. Meanwhile, we should give priority to technologically advanced, significantly advantageous and strongly supportive major projects of the Internet of Things, encourage the enterprises of the Internet of Things which meet the requirements to make direct investment in capital markets at home and abroad, buttress the establishment of equity investment fund of the Internet of Things, and set a group of entrepreneurship investment funds of the Internet of Things through national plans of entrepreneurship and investment for emerging industries. 

(5) Enhance international cooperation. We should enthusiastically promote technical exchange and cooperation of the Internet of Things, make full use of internal innovation resources, encourage foreign enterprises to establish research institutions of the Internet of Things in China and channel foreign investment into the industries of the Internet of Things. With emphasis on strengthening the application and core industrial competitiveness of the Internet of Things, we should reinforce the cooperation between domestic and internationally outstanding enterprises in the research on the key technologies and products of the Internet of Things. Additionally, we should support domestic enterprises to face the competition in the global market of the Internet of Things, internationalize the independent technologies and standards of our country and encourage domestic enterprises and research institutions to participate in the making of international standards. 

(6) Reinforce the talent army. We should establish a multi-layered and multi-typed talent development and service system of the Internet of Things, support relevant universities and research institutes to increase multidisciplinary integration and quicken the cultivation of the talents for the Internet of Things. Apart from that, we should rely on national major projects, scientific and technological plans, demonstration projects and important major enterprises to develop high-level talents and leaders in the Internet of Things. Last but not least, we should introduce high-level talents in the field, improve supporting services, and encourage overseas Chinese talents to start business back in China. 

All regions and departments should deepen the understanding of the significance of the Internet of Things and finish relevant tasks according to the Suggestions. All departments should distribute tasks according to obligations, make specific implementation schemes, action plans and supportive policies and measures as quickly as possible, enhance communication and coordination and focus on the completion of the task so as to achieve expected effects.

State Council of People’s Republic of China

February 5, 2013