Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called for fostering new driving forces through informatization, to promote new development and make new achievements.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a congratulatory letter sent to the first Digital China Summit, which opened Sunday in Fuzhou, provincial capital of east China's Fujian Province.

Digitalization, networking and the application of intelligent technologies, which have been greatly developed, are playing more and more important roles in promoting social and economic development, modernizing China's governance system and capacity, and meeting the people's ever-growing needs for a better life, he said in the letter.

Xi noted that the summit will show China's latest achievements in developing e-governance and the digital economy.

It will also enable people to exchange experience and perspectives about building a digital China, and help further build consensus, he said.

The summit will stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all sectors of society to build a digital China, as well as make informatization bring more benefits to the society and the people, Xi said.

Xi's letter was read at the opening ceremony Sunday. Huang Kunming, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, addressed the ceremony.

Huang urged implementing Xi's strategic thought and instructions on building China into an Internet power.

He also urged achieving breakthroughs in core technologies, promoting the upgrade of infrastructure, developing the digital economy and benefiting more from data resources.

The summit, which will run for three days until April 24, is jointly held by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Fujian provincial government.

About 800 people, including officials, representatives of industrial organizations and experts, are attending the summit.