China welcomes foreign Internet firms acting within law

BEIJING Jan 14 (Reuters) - China welcomes foreign firms to participate in Internet development "according to the law", a foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday after Google threatened to withdraw due to a massive cyber-attack originating in China.

China opposes cyber-hacking, Jiang Yu said in response to a question about Google (GOOG.O) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments that the case raises serious concerns.

"China's Internet is open and the Chinese government encourages development of the Internet," Jiang said.

"Chinese law proscribes any form of hacking activity."

(Reporting by Chris Buckley, writing by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Ken Wills)