Technological achievements in China, such as big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, have laid a solid foundation for the transformation of Chinese media as the industry seeks better development amid a changing environment, media professionals and industry leaders said at a forum on Saturday.

Rapid advances in internet technology have brought significant changes to Chinese people's lifestyles in recent years. An increasing number of people read the news online, pushing traditional media to transform itself by integrating with new media.

"Media integration requires support from new technologies," said Tuo Zhen, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

"To achieve integrated development, (media) need to be technology-sensitive. We need to have an interest in, take a receptive attitude toward and gain application capabilities in new technologies," he said at the Media Integration and Development Forum 2017 held in Shenzhen on Saturday.

The annual event, launched in 2015, is co-organized by People's Daily, the Party's official newspaper, and the Shenzhen government.

In a speech delivered at the forum, Yang Zhenwu, publisher of People's Daily, said that technological innovations have provided "wide space" for media to grow.

"Several years of exploration fully demonstrates that under new conditions, media still have wide space for development in the area of content with continuous innovation," Yang said.

It also shows that traditional mainstream media fully have the condition and capability to make good use of the internet to increase their communication capability and influence, he said.

Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, also said at the forum that media organizations need to make technology a priority and attach more importance to mobile and video production in order to better survive and develop in the changing times.

The rapidly rising popularity of video underscores the key role of technology and innovation in media transformation and upgrading, he said.

"And various innovations pushed by Chinese IT companies, such as big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, have offered a solid technological support for such transformation," Zhou said.

According to the latest statistics released by China Internet Network Information Center, the number of Chinese netizens stood at more than 750 million as of June, accounting for 20 percent of the world's total.

[email protected]