Chinese President Xi Jinping (C front) visits the "Light of the Internet" expo in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, Dec. 16, 2015. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for promoting innovation-driven development by grasping opportunities in the Internet era on Wednesday.

Xi made the remarks while visiting an expo, themed "Light of the Internet," displaying the latest Internet technologies and products in China and abroad. The exhibition is part of the Second World Internet Conference held from Wednesday to Friday in the river town of Wuzhen in east China's Zhejiang Province.

As one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, the Internet has brought huge changes to people's work and life and promoted innovation and development in many fields, Xi said

Businesses should be encouraged to use the Internet to transform their model of development and make innovations in technology, service and business model, he said.

He called for implementing the strategy of innovation-driven development by utilizing important opportunities brought by the Internet.

The exhibition has display areas for development concepts, "Internet plus," innovation and others. It attracted nearly 260 Chinese and foreign firms.

Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, also visited the expo.