“We must … thoroughly implement the important thoughts of the Communist Party’s Central Committee about [building] a ‘cyber great power’ and earnestly shoulder the responsibility of raising the banner to gather the hearts of the people, preventing risks and ensuring safety, and strengthening governance to benefit the people,” Xi told the meeting, according to state news agency Xinhua.

“[We must] increase momentum to promote development and seek win-win cooperation, adhere to the party’s management of the internet and the principle of [building] internet trust for the people.

“[We must] persist in building a solid national network security barrier, giving play to the driving and leading role of information, and managing, operating and accessing the internet according to the law.”

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Xi has long pushed for China to become a “cyber great power”, rolling out support to expand internet infrastructure and to develop a “civilised” cyber environment.

This year the public security ministry already ran a 100-day crackdown targeting online rumours and said it had achieved “remarkable results”.

The ministry said that during the crackdown, which started in April, its officers investigated more than 1,600 cases of online rumours and shut down more than 10,000 social media accounts for spreading rumours.

It said that throughout the week, police departments would spread the message about preventing misinformation at government agencies, schools, businesses and rural areas.

Local governments were quick to tout their success in the crackdown.

In a post on the social media site Weibo, Shanghai police said 258 people in its jurisdiction had been targeted for spreading rumours online, and 460 illegal accounts shut down for violations.

In one case, a person was charged with fabricating an online article using artificial intelligence to spread false rumours that a kindergarten teacher was involved in prostitution.

Police in Sichuan province said they dealt with 57 individuals and 52 cases of malicious fabrication and dissemination of online rumours, cleaning up more than 3,800 rumours and shutting down 116 online accounts.

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Among the cases officers handled was of a person who posted doctored videos spreading rumours about the death of a teenager who police later determined had died from suicide.

In Tibet, police said they had dealt with three individuals who fabricated a story in April claiming that female university student visiting the region had been raped and had her tongue cut out by a 58-year-old man.