Heart to the "Net": Why Wuzhen?

Wuzhen, November 11 (Zhang Yuhuan) On November 11, the 11 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit (hereinafter referred to as the Wuzhen Summit) officially came to an end. This year, more than 10,2023 guests from more than 120 countries and regions participated in the conference online and offline, and the number of countries hit a record high.

Ten years ago, a "net" story was written from this water town in the south of the Yangtze River. Today, the World Internet Conference International Organization, established as an opportunity of the Wuzhen Summit, has attracted nearly 25 institutions, organizations, enterprises and individuals in the Internet field from 130 countries and regions to join as members. In the past ten years, why has the Wuzhen Summit become the "spotlight" and "main stage" of the world's Internet development?

The plenary session of the 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit was held in Wuzhen. Photo by Wang Gang

Focus on development and share inclusive prosperity

By this year, it has been more than 30 years since the birth of the world's Internet, and China's full-featured access to the Internet is about to usher in its <>th year. The <> years of the Wuzhen Summit have witnessed China's journey from catching up to running and then leading the world Internet runway.

Ten years ago, the development of the Internet in the world reached a new stage, the digital economy became a new driving force for countries to seek economic growth, and cyberspace became a new field for the reform of the global governance system.

Leading is to achieve breakthroughs in top fields and share achievements in the destiny of cyberspace. In 2015, China's government work report mentioned the "Internet +" action plan for the first time, and the "creative distribution center" of the world's Internet came to China.

Since 2016, the Wuzhen Summit has held the "World Internet Leading Scientific and Technological Achievements Release Event" for seven consecutive years, and has released more than 110 world-wide leading scientific and technological achievement projects, covering quantum computing, satellite Internet, artificial intelligence, network security, high-performance chips and many other cutting-edge scientific and technological fields. This year, the event was upgraded to the "World Internet Conference Leading Technology Award", which is committed to condensing greater scientific and technological value for the times.

The 2023 World Internet Conference Leading Technology Award Ceremony was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang. Photo by Wang Gang

In addition to the release of the world's leading Internet science and technology, the release and display of "Boutique Cases of Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace", the "Light of the Internet" Expo, and the "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition... Over the past decade, the Wuzhen Summit has continuously promoted the integration of digital and real with actions, greatly promoting the integration of cloud computing and artificial intelligence with various industries, and injecting new impetus into the development of the global digital economy.

Over the past decade, with the Wuzhen Summit as a medium, China has shared opportunities with the rest of the world in the process of development and carried out all-round international cooperation in the digital field.

In Southeast Asia, Chinese companies helped Thailand build ASEAN's first 5G smart hospital; In Latin America, China has used digital technology to carry out innovative cooperation with Brazil, Ecuador and other countries. In Africa, China has partnered with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch technical assistance and training programs... At this year's Wuzhen Summit, the Blue Book of the World Internet Development Report 2023 was released, further focusing on the Internet development of less developed countries.

Ni Quinaud, the "Father of the Internet in Africa", said during this year's Wuzhen Summit that exchanges and dialogues with China will help countries around the world to participate more in the development of technology. "We look forward to learning from China and want to be more involved."

According to Wu Hequan, chairman of the evaluation committee of the Leading Science and Technology Award of the World Internet Conference and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Wuzhen Summit is further becoming a driver of Internet technology innovation and development, and a demonstrator of international scientific and technological cooperation in the new era.

Breathe with the same fate. China is making the achievements of Internet development better benefit people in different countries and regions, so that the light of the Internet can reach more corners and benefit more people.

Located in Wuzhen, the world's first Internet-themed large-scale science and technology museum, Wuzhen World Internet Science and Technology Museum, attracts the public. Photo by Wang Gang

Focus on challenges and create peace and security together

Development is full of opportunities and challenges. In recent years, it has become a worldwide consensus to work together to address global Internet development and governance challenges.

Cyber security is an important thread in cyber governance, and information security is an important part of national security. After ten years of development, the Wuzhen Summit has become an important platform for global Internet sharing and co-governance and jointly addressing cybersecurity challenges.

At last year's "Light of the Internet" Expo, the staff demonstrated how hackers can use "AI face swapping" to crack the face verification system of online banking and other cyber security scenarios, focusing on the theme of cyber security risk management, and many enterprises made relevant demonstrations on cyber security assurance.

As the country with the largest number of Internet users in the world, in China, as the Internet industry fades from youth and enters a mature stage, a series of policies such as anti-monopoly, information security, data security, and network security have gradually filled the blind spots in supervision, and the increasingly perfect institutional framework and behavior supervision have paved the way for sustainable development.

In the face of the challenges of the digital era, China has joined hands with the rest of the world to explore the path of global governance.

In September 2020, China proposed the Global Initiative on Data Security, which provides a blueprint for the formulation of global data security rules. In November of the same year, the Organizing Committee of the World Internet Conference issued the Action Initiative for Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace, further transforming the concept of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace into practical actions.

At this year's Wuzhen Summit's Cutting-edge Digital Technology Innovation and Security Forum, guests once again discussed the development background of cutting-edge digital technologies and discussed security risk response strategies. At the Forum on Data Governance to Promote the Development of the Global Digital Economy, experts collided ideas on the orderly flow of data across borders... The participants reached a broad consensus on jointly maintaining the security and stability of cyberspace and jointly promoting a fair and reasonable cyber order.

Over the past decade, China has continued to promote the building of a peaceful, secure and orderly cyberspace, and the Wuzhen Summit has also created a fair, open, safe and green cyber ecosystem, which has won more and more recognition and support.

"The success of the Wuzhen Summit over the past decade and the progress of China's Internet are a microcosm of China's rapid development." Francis Gurry, Vice Chairman of the World Internet Conference, said that the contribution of the Wuzhen Summit to the development of global Internet security is obvious to all, and the global reputation of the summit is steadily building as the international participation of the summit increases year by year.

The picture shows the waterfront opera performance in Wuzhen at night. Photo by Wang Gang

Promote civilization and jointly advocate equality and inclusiveness

In response to the challenges brought about by the Internet, people's mode of production, lifestyle, and governance are also constantly being reshaped, and human civilization has stepped into a new space. How to build a new platform for promoting dialogue among civilizations in cyberspace has become a new global issue.

Since the first Wuzhen Summit, China has been searching for the answer of this era.

In the past ten years of exploration, the Wuzhen Summit has always taken actions to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, promoted the improvement of digital public services such as "Internet + education" and "Internet + medical care", enhanced online cultural exchanges and dialogue among civilizations, explored new directions, new models and new solutions for the digital protection and dissemination of cultural relics, provided multi-dimensional and multi-dimensional spatio-temporal support for exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations, promoted the production and dissemination of high-quality online cultural products, and fully demonstrated the achievements of human civilization.

Ten years together, the Wuzhen Summit will further promote the transformation of the world into a global village, and make the international community more and more a community with a shared future. At present, the World Internet Conference has nearly 25 members from 130 countries and regions around the world. In 2022, the World Internet Conference has developed from an international event in the Internet field to a permanent international organization, better promoting the interconnection between China and the world and the sharing and co-governance of the international Internet.

After ten years of accumulation, the Wuzhen Summit has built consensus and platforms, always adhered to the concept of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace, and turned ideological consensus into concrete actions from concept documents to action initiatives to practical cases, so as to better promote the common values of all mankind, build an online spiritual home, and realize "civilization symbiosis".

Cultures are colorful because of exchanges, and civilizations are enriched by mutual learning. At present, we are pushing the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace to a new stage. At this year's Wuzhen Summit, China joined hands with the world to build a more inclusive and prosperous cyberspace, a more peaceful and secure cyberspace, and a more equal and inclusive cyberspace.

"Looking forward to the future, the Wuzhen Summit will always be committed to building a global Internet platform for consultation, co-construction and sharing, actively creating a new pattern of international cooperation in cyberspace, and continuing to write a new chapter in the development and governance of the global Internet in the past decade." Ren Xianliang, Secretary-General of the World Internet Conference, said.

In the information age, the Internet carries the dreams of mankind and is related to the well-being of the people. Since the 2014 World Internet Conference was permanently settled in Wuzhen, the "gear of destiny" of this water town in the south of the Yangtze River has quietly begun to turn. How to make the Internet create a better future for mankind - the story of the small town with the heart of the "Internet" is to be continued. (ENDS)