Speaking at an internet conference in Wuzhen, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, Xi and propaganda chief Liu Yunshan signaled a willingness to step up China's role in global internet governance, seeking to rectify "imbalances" in the way standards across cyberspace are set.

"The development of the internet knows no international boundaries. The sound use, development and governance of the internet thus calls for closer cooperation," Xi said in a video message at the start of China's third World Internet Conference.

While China's influence in global technology has grown, its ruling Communist Party led by Xi has presided over broader and more vigorous efforts to control, and often censor, the flow of information online.

China infamously operates the so-called "Great Firewall", the world's most sophisticated online censorship system, to block and attack Internet services the government deems unsavory.