The World Wide Web should not be blamed for the overheated e-commerce and recent waning economic performance of high-tech enterprises worldwide, experts from Mainland China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) told a forum recently.

Participants said the Internet has proved to be a novelty bringing tremendous positive influences to the human society.

"It is not justified to attribute the unreasonable binge over net-related economic activities to the Internet," said Chen Jia'er, chairman of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Chen said the dislocation between real-world gains and the once skyrocketing stock prices of some high-tech enterprises was caused by people's unrealistic expectation over the neo-economy, which features internet-related business transactions.

Dr. Ch'ien Kuo-fung, board chairman of the Hong Kong-based China.com, said some e-commerce practitioners used to think the neo-economy was a "zero-cost" business. The conception is wrong and had led to practices violating fundamental economic rules.
"Neo-economy, the same as any traditional industry, can not be independent of cost calculations in terms of risks, human capital and cash flow," said Dr. Ch'ien.

Ch'ien also remarked that the development of Internet will greatly improve the spreading of knowledge and information and further reduce the possibility of corruption caused by information monopoly.

This is the first session of the Forum on China's Internet Development, which is jointly sponsored by China E-Commerce Association, Xinhuanet.com and China.com.
The Forum will become a monthly event, sources said.