Future of cyberspace must conform with ‘national conditions’, Xi Jinping tells top internet execs

President Xi Jinping pledged to strengthen cyber cooperation with the US as he met global internet heavyweights on the third day of his US state visit, vowing also that China would continue to open up to foreign investment.

But he also made plain that cyberspace had to develop in line with the "national conditions of each nation".

Xi had a packed day on Wednesday meeting US business leaders and tech executives, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, which is blocked on the mainland. Google executives were absent.

Speaking at a China-US internet forum at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington state, Xi said the internet played an increasingly important role in the world's development, and the governance of cyberspace had become a serious concern.

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"Both China and the US are major countries in the internet sphere," Xi was quoted by state-run Xinhua as saying. "The two countries should carry out talks on cyber issues on the basis of mutual respect and trust."