Australian-born media mogul, Rupert Murdoch has urged China to open up its media market in line with other Asian countries and at the same time protect intellectual properties.

Speaking at the World Media Summit in Beijing today, Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation said, "The embrace of the digital age is as vital to China today as its decision thirty years ago to take its place in the global economy. The policy then was called 'the open door' – China now has a chance to open its digital door.''

"There are interesting media companies emerging in China but piracy will make it difficult for them to generate the profits at home that would fuel growth abroad," Murdoch told the audience of 300 media executives from over 170 media outlets around the world at the Great Hall of the People.

At the World Media Summit, hosted by the state-run Xinhua news agency and eight other world media organisations, Murdoch said "The digital renaissance offers China an opportunity to exercise leadership.''

He also urged China to ensure that intellectual property is protected and added that the growth of Chinese media companies would also be hindered by intellectual property violations but competition would better prepare them for the rigors of the international market.

Coming to his recent favourite topic of charging for content, Murdoch said that in the future, internet users would have to pay for quality content, "if we do not take advantage of the current movement toward paid-for content, it will be the content creators, the people in this hall, who will pay the ultimate price, and the content kleptomaniacs will triumph."

Murdoch noted that China must be prepared to expect criticism as it takes its place on the world stage as a superpower, but that it should not over-react to such criticism.

"As China emerges, it will be the subject of more criticism, in the true sense of the word. The people in this hall will sometimes be doing the critiquing. My personal advice is not to take it personally.''

"I've had some personal experience of that phenomenon. A cursory search of the Internet will throw up some rather vigorous and vitriolic criticism of this curious character called Rupert Murdoch. But myth is, in the end, not material. A preconception is not a personality,'' he said.

The three-day World Media Summit, attended by senior officials from several major international media organizations, has drawn criticism from foreign human rights groups and media advocates, given China's well documented history of censorship.

In a statement emailed to AFP news agency, New York-based Human Rights Watch has asked the 300 media executives at the summit to "urge the Chinese government to respect press freedom.

Global news media from New York Times, Rupert Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal, BBC, Internet websites of Google, Yahoo, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and many others had their websites blocked whenever the Chinese government felt it was not conducive.

Not to mention, the numerous news media websites that have hacked in the recent past from botnets originating from China.