Shou Xiaoli:
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). The 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit will soon kick off. Today, we are delighted to be joined by Mr. Zhao Zeliang, vice minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC); Mr. Zhu Guoxian, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhejiang Provincial Committee, and director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee; and Mr. Qi Li, secretary of the CPC Tongxiang Municipal Committee, Zhejiang province. They will first brief you on relevant information and then take your questions.
First, I'll give the floor to Mr. Zhao Zeliang.
Zhao Zeliang:
Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, the annual World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit will soon take place once again. Today, on behalf of the organizing committee, Mr. Zhu, Mr. Qi and I will brief you on the preparatory work for the summit.
The 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit is jointly organized by the CAC and People's Government of Zhejiang province. The summit is scheduled to take place from Sept. 26 to 28 in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, and the opening ceremony will be held on the morning of Sept. 26. Under the theme "Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," the summit will be held both online and in-person. In addition to various activities taking place in the venues in Wuzhen, the event will also invite several key guests to participate online.
The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc around the world. More than ever, humanity need to strengthen cooperation and join hands to move forward. The Chinese government has resumed hosting this global internet extravaganza in the form of the Wuzhen Summit and with its previous specification and scale, because it hopes that the conference can continue to give full play to its important role as "two platforms," namely a global platform for China to connect with the world, and a Chinese platform for the global internet to be shared and governed by all. The Chinese government also hopes to build in-depth communication with all countries and regions around the world and all parties of the internet to promote cooperation on digital technologies, optimize governance in digital ecosystem, and share in the benefits of the digital economy, so as to jointly build a community with a shared future in cyberspace and pool wisdom and strength for the development of human society. In accordance with the new characteristics of our time, this year's conference will have the following four highlights:
The conference this year will take a long-term perspective and discuss the future of civilization. "Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace" is the consistent theme of the World Internet Conference. The conference thoroughly implements General Secretary Xi Jinping's concepts and proposals of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace, grasps the developing trend of the integration of digital economy with economic and social development, and takes "Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization" as its theme this year. This not only reflects current trends, but is also of significance in both pace-setting and looking forward. During the conference, we will exchange ideas on this topic, both online and in-person, with nearly 2,000 representatives from domestic and foreign governments, international organizations, industry associations, internet companies in China and abroad, universities, think tanks and sci-tech research institutions, in a bid to offer insights for the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace. As society is developing from industrial to digital civilization, the event also aims to envisage new forms of civilization for human society and jointly grasp new opportunities brought about by sci-tech revolution and development.
The conference this year will focus more on frontier sectors and reflect hot issues. The conference insists on reflecting frontier issues concerning the development and governance of the internet as well as the concerns of various parties. With regards to the topics of the sub-forums, a total of 20 sub-forums have been set up centered around hot issues regarding global cyberspace. In addition to traditional forums such as the Business Leaders Dialogue, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on Cyberspace, the International High-level Think Tank Forum on the Internet, and the Forum for International Norms in Cyberspace, this year's conference will also focus on 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), open source ecology, next-generation internet, data and algorithms as well as other new trends and hot issues in internet technologies, and select new topics accordingly. The conference will thoroughly address the concerns of various parties in China and abroad regarding data governance, the rule of law on the internet, the corporate social responsibilities of internet companies, online charity and digital efforts for poverty alleviation, as well as global anti-pandemic efforts and international communication, to name a few. In terms of the three major parts of the conference, the Release Ceremony for World Leading Internet Scientific and Technological Achievements will unveil 15 such achievements, demonstrating the new heights of the world's frontier internet technologies nowadays. The Light of Internet Expo has attracted some 300 Chinese and foreign companies who will proactively showcase the latest technologies and products concerning AI, big data, cyber security and so on. Meanwhile, the "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition will continue to act as a competition for innovation and entrepreneurship, exploring new technologies, models and business forms of the development of internet.
The 2021 World Internet Conference will put more focus on opening up to expand its international influence. The organization of the conference always adheres to an international perspective, overcomes the adverse effects of the pandemic, and actively strengthens interaction and cooperation with embassies and consulates in China, well-known international organizations, international think tanks, and international conference organizations. It has invited the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) to serve as co-organizers, and invited leaders from politics, enterprises, universities and research institutes of various countries to participate, and promotes many high-end dialogues and forum activities. The conference will also open a live video conference platform for the first time. Domestic and foreign guests will discuss global internet governance via online and offline platforms and share their experiences of global internet development.
The 2021 World Internet Conference will further strengthen its achievements and promote digital cooperation. The conference will hold "best practices in jointly building a community of shared future in cyberspace" case exhibition activities, comprehensively showing the best practices from network infrastructure construction, online cultural exchanges, network economic innovation and development, cybersecurity assurance, and cyberspace governance, and telling stories on international exchanges and cooperation in cyberspace. The activities will further enhance exchanges, build consensus, stimulate insights, strengthen cooperation, and provide a practicable path and strong impetus for all parties to jointly build a community of shared future in cyberspace.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, the 2021 World Internet Conference will soon begin. On behalf of the organizing committee, Mr. Zhu, Mr. Qi and I, sincerely welcome all friends to participate in the conference, and strive to make this year's conference a colorful and influential event, and contribute to building a community with a shared future in cyberspace. Thank you.
Shou Xiaoli:
Thank you for your introduction, Mr. Zhao. I would like now to invite Mr. Zhu to make his introduction.
Zhu Guoxian:
Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the press, hello everyone. I am very happy to be here again at this familiar place, and meet new and old friends to introduce preparations for the 2021 World Internet Conference. As a journalist for the media, I participated in the conference on three occasions. Today as the director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, I will brief you on the situation for the third time. On behalf of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and Zhejiang Provincial Government, I would like to sincerely invite everyone to meet again at Wuzhen in the golden autumn. I believe that the World Internet Conference will be more brilliant because of your presence, and will have more influence because of your wonderful reports.
Just now, Mr. Zhao introduced the situation of the conference. As the host, Zhejiang will thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, always uphold the concept of striving to improve on the previous session, and make good preparations to make the brand of the World Internet Conference brighter. We believe that the 2021 World Internet Conference will bring you special experiences, and provide you with materials and stories about Zhejiang in the era of digital civilization.
Zhejiang is a province where history and the future converge. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. One hundred years ago, the CPC was born on a tourist boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, not far from Wuzhen, thus initiating a century-long journey of fight and pursuit. Zhejiang is home to the revolutionary roots of the CPC. One hundred years later, in the historic year in which the CPC has fulfilled its first centenary goal and celebrates its 100th anniversary, General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee have placed on Zhejiang the historical responsibility of pursuing high-quality development and constructing a demonstration zone for common prosperity, and given Zhejiang the glorious mission of exploring the path to realizing China's second centenary goal. At the historic crossroad of the two centenary goals, this year's World Internet Conference will be held in the land of Zhejiang and serve as a landmark on the new journey. Over the years, Zhejiang has seized major opportunities in the era of digital transformation. Guided by digital reforms, it has embarked on a path of innovation and development. A large number of internet companies, projects and talents have settled in Zhejiang. In the first half of this year, the added-value of the core industries of the digital economy in the province reached nearly 400 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%, accounting for 11.5% of GDP. In particular, since the digital reform, the whole province has focused on the "152" digital reform projects ("1" refers to the integrated intelligent public data platform; "5" refers to the five applications of digital technologies in the field of governance of the Party and government management, economy, society, and legal system; "2" refers to building a theoretical system and a system of institutional norms) and the "1+7+N" working system of carrying out reform, and launched platforms such as the "Zhejiang Fair" (a digital supervision system for business activities) and "Zhejiang Food Delivery Online." New breakthroughs in the digital field are constantly resulting in new achievements in social development.
Walking around Wuzhen, one will find the meeting of science and art. Some say that science and art are like two people climbing the same mountain from different directions, parting at the foot of the mountain and reuniting at the top. In Wuzhen, everything is married perfectly: the sound of pulling on oars with the flow of ideas, small bridges and corridors with interconnectivity, and an artistic and humanistic atmosphere with a pragmatic and realistic scientific temperament. In today's Wuzhen, modern landmarks such as the Wuzhen International Internet Exhibition & Convention Center, the Yunzhou Guest Service Center and The Light of Internet Expo center are situated along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal with its long history; while the Wuzhen Theatre Festival and the quaint Wucun village glow with even stronger cultural charm. Last week, the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee held a cultural work conference and made an important decision to implement projects to promote the cultural development of Zhejiang in the new era, enrich people's minds while pursuing common prosperity, achieve the goal of culture first in advancing modernization, and build a cultural pacesetter in the new era, creating a cultural development boom. The World Internet Conference is not only a feast of technology but also a feast of culture. Wandering through this world of art and science, we can better understand the secret of Zhejiang's development and perceive the landscape of common prosperity.
The conference will present digital applications in everyday life. The World Internet Conference is the best platform to stage the world's cutting-edge technological achievements of the internet. At this year's conference, we will introduce 25 smart projects such as 5G all-area autonomous driving, a smart nursing system and a digital ranch, centered around various scenarios such as life experience, smart production and industry eco-system. Over 300 leading enterprises such as Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, CETC and Kaspersky Lab will exhibit and showcase their latest internet-related technological achievements. During the conference, the Internet Technical Achievements Exhibition Hall will showcase innovative applications such as blockchain intelligent inspection, nanolithography and imaging devices, as well as integrated deep-sea robots both online and offline. In addition, we will hold a ground-breaking ceremony for the Internet Science and Technology Pavilion, which is scheduled to open in 2023, allowing the World Internet Conference to be open to the public throughout the year. In view of the need for epidemic prevention and control measures, we will build a smart system for the conference, integrating information systems for the management of conference guests, activities and venue resources, and optimize the application of technologies such as one-code access, facial recognition and infrared sensors, so as to ensure visual processes, problem tracking, controllable results and ultimately hold a safe conference.
Zhejiang has gained steam in digitalization reform and the excitement of the internet era is continuing to be written. We will hold the conference with high standards, provide high-quality services, and display high-level internet development results, which will come together to present a wonderful international conference. Thank you to friends from the media for your long-time concern and support for Zhejiang. That is all for my introduction.
Shou Xiaoli:
Thank you, Mr. Zhu. Now, the floor is open for questions. Please identify your news outlet before you raise a question.
