Beijing students will soon enjoy free cybersecurity classes at a large networking giant.

Beijing's first cybersecurity educational base was launched on Sunday by the capital's public security bureau and Qihoo 360, one of China's largest technology enterprises.

Yan Ming, former director of a research bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, was glad to see the municipal government establish the base to popularize network security among youngsters, saying that cyberspace is a key part of State security.

In some Western countries, children are taught how to surf the Internet in legal and safe ways beginning in kindergarten, Yan said.

"The course is as important as knowledge of traffic security, and I think it will be also useful to enhance people's awareness of how to protect online information," he said.

Creating the base shows that the Chinese government has made a priority of cybersecurity and providing education on it from an early age, he added.

Zhu Huachi, head of the cybersecurity group at the capital's public security bureau, said, "We've selected more than 100 volunteers from big Internet companies to provide the cybersecurity classes while inviting some technology enterprises to make games or cartoons related to online security for young people."

More educational bases also will be established at other Internet security companies, as well as at libraries and science museums, in a move to make it more convenient for residents to take the classes, he added.

Qihoo 360 has set up a teaching group and arranged 30 specialists to head the classes, a company source said.

The classes, which target students in primary and middle schools, will focus on interaction with youngsters, hoping to introduce cyberknowledge in ways that they are familiar with, including videos, games and cartoons, the officer said.

Students, individually or in groups, can e-mail the company to book a seat for such classes, he said.

Tan Pengcheng, 16, a student at Beijing National Day School, welcomed the classes.

"I was curious about how information from my QQ, an instant messaging tool, was stolen, and how my information was known by strangers," she said, adding that this often happens to her classmates.

She also suggested the company provide online classes for those who live far from the meeting place.

[email protected]