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Read in Chinese

Speakers:

Zhao Zeliang, vice minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China

Zhu Guoxian, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee

Qi Li, secretary of the CPC Tongxiang Municipal Committee, Zhejiang province

Chairperson:

Shou Xiaoli, deputy head of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and SCIO spokesperson

Date:

Sept. 10, 2021

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. 

CCTV:

What were the considerations when deciding the theme of the World Internet Conference 2021, "Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace?"

Zhao Zeliang:

I will answer the question. Currently, with the rapid development of digitalization, the 2021 WIC's theme, "Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," has special meanings. We all know that the first WIC was held in 2014 and since then we have held the conference for seven times. For the past more than seven years, the four principles for advancing the transformation of the global internet governance system and the five proposals for building a community with a shared future in cyberspace put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping have been widely recognized by the international community. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic last year, the internet has played an important role in recovering the global economy recovery, resuming the normal functioning of society, and promoting international anti-epidemic cooperation. The importance and urgency to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace has become even more prominent. 

"Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace" means that the WIC aims to broaden the common ground of the international community for achieving security, stability and prosperity in cyberspace. The WIC will focus on the new trends and hot issues in the development of the new round of technological revolution, and address the new challenges and problems in global cyberspace development and governance. We will widely expand the consensus of the international community and ensure that digital innovation benefits people of all countries and a better future for mankind will be built with joint efforts in humanity's progress towards a digital civilization.  

"Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace" is also expected to show China's sincerity for cooperation and to deliver confidence and strength in global cyberspace. Upholding the principles of mutually beneficial, open and shared development, the WIC aims to promote in-depth international digital cooperation, enhance solidarity and mutual trust in cyberspace, and present China's sincere wish and strong resolution to share new digital opportunities with the world and advance international digital cooperation. 

"Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace" also means that the WIC hopes to present Chinese wisdom and solutions to the world, share China's experience and achievements in promoting internet development and governance, and demonstrates the country's sense of responsibility to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace. Thank you. 

Hong Kong Economic Herald:

We all know that Zhejiang is fully advancing digitalization reform. What effects will it have on Zhejiang's internet industry and cyberspace governance? Thank you.

Zhu Guoxian:

I'd like to thank you for your concern for Zhejiang's digitalization reform, which is a reform that affects many other aspects in Zhejiang. This year, Zhejiang has vigorously pushed forward its digitalization reform, and opened a new chapter in Zhejiang's digital development. By focusing on the "152" digital reform projects, Zhejiang will carry out a well-rounded and systematic reform in its social development and governance capacity. By doing so, the digitalization reform will transform all social and economic sectors in a deep and all-round way and further guide the prosperous development of the internet industry in Zhejiang. The digitalization reform has the following features. 

First, the internet sector will continue to boom. Creating major applications through digital reforms will further promote the widespread application of the internet, boost innovation and breakthroughs in internet technologies, and facilitate the emergence of new business forms and new models. The role of data as a key production factor will become more prominent, which will bring major opportunities for the development of the internet sector.

Second, provincial-level digital governance will be comprehensively improved. In the process of deepening digital reforms, data-driven governance capacity will become an important impetus of Zhejiang province to transform government functions and promote governance innovations. The modern government building will focus on overall smart governance, being practical and innovative. 

Third, we will continue to build a safe and clean cyberspace. We will follow the people-centered philosophy of internet development in digital reforms, and coordinate development and security. In terms of the future development of the internet, Zhejiang will have more advantages in building a clean cyberspace. This will mean strengthening integrated internet management, ensuring that cyberspace is governed in accordance with law, building a cybersecurity protection system, and better regulating the development of the internet. Thank you.

Hong Kong Bauhinia Magazine:

The World Internet Conference is a grand gathering in the internet industry, and everyone has paid close attention to this year's lineup of guests. The conference will be convened in a few days. What important companies and people will participate in this year's conference? Thank you.

Zhao Zeliang:

In fact, this reporter friend has just given the answer while asking the question. Indeed, the WIC has become a symbol of Zhejiang, as well as a highlight of China's internet development. The role and influence of the WIC has been recognized by the international community. Therefore, the invitation of guests to this year's conference has gained much attention. With an open attitude and high-level positioning, we welcome friends, guests and representatives from industries, universities, research institutes and government departments around the world to attend the conference to better communicate ideas, promote consensus and contribute good ideas to the world's internet development. 

Since we began inviting guests to the conference, we have received close attention and active responses from all sides in China and abroad. Our guests come from more than 80 countries and regions. They include representatives of foreign government departments and embassies in China, heads of international organizations such as the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Global System for Mobile Communications Association, as well as representatives from well-known companies from China and abroad. They will share their cutting-edge insights, and also communicate and interact with each other to generate the sparks of wisdom. Thank you. 

China National Radio:

What new highlights can we expect for the release of the leading scientific and technological achievements in this year's World Internet Conference? Thank you. 

Zhu Guoxian:

I will answer this question. The world's leading scientific and technological achievements will be showcased through the "'Straight to Wuzhen' Global Internet Competition" and the "Light of the Internet Expo." Since you asked, I will introduce some of the highlights of the release. 

First, the competition organizers made innovations to promote specialization. Based on hotspot issues of the digital economy, the organizers worked with professional institutions in China and abroad to set five parallel contests covering AI, 5G applications, the industrial internet, the consumer internet and integrated circuits, attracting 1,012 projects from home and abroad. 

Second, the level of internationalization has increased. The competition organizers have intensified their efforts to work with well-known Chinese and foreign organizations, universities, business incubators, amid other platforms, They have attracted almost 200 projects from 19 countries, with many of them being high-level projects led by academicians of foreign countries. The competition also invited Steven Hoffman, known as the Godfather of Silicon Valley startups, to act as co-chair. 

Besides, as people are not only interested in the competition, but also our Light of the Internet Expo, here are some points I would like to share with you. First, we will expand the expo as appropriate. Two venues, namely the Light of the Internet Expo Center and Wuzhen Internet International Conference and Exhibition Center, will be used together to hold the event, with a total exhibition area of more than 30,000 square meters. Second, the expo will focus on more specific themes. Apart from the comprehensive exhibition area, we will set up areas with special characteristics, including one special area for the digital economy; three themed exhibition areas focusing on cyberspace security and individual information protection, the digital society and digital trade, and cloud computing and big data; and three regional exhibition areas. We call this "1+3+3." Third, more achievements showcased at the expo will be applied. We will invite well-known enterprises, both upstream and downstream in the industrial chain, to jointly participate in the expo, showcasing the entire ecosystem of the industry and further supporting industrial cooperation. Thank you. 

People.cn:

Every year during the WIC, important research outcomes are announced in blue papers which attract wide attention both at home and abroad. Compared with previous ones, what will be the focus of this year's blue papers and what features and innovations will be presented? Thank you.

Zhao Zeliang:

I will answer your questions. This year we will continue to release blue papers. The "World Internet Development Report 2021" will focus on both the latest and general trends in global internet development during the past year. It will systematically summarize the situation and highlights of internet development in major countries; showcase new internet technologies, applications and changes worldwide; and scientifically envisage the future trends of global internet development.

The upcoming "China Internet Development Report 2021" was compiled under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thought on cyber development. The report will focus on the achievements of China's internet development during the past year, and make an assessment of internet development in each provincial-level region. Since the start of this year, the internet has promoted the high-quality development of the digital economy, and facilitated the country's new development paradigm of "dual circulation." China has comprehensively advanced the rule of law in cyberspace governance and the governance system of the platform economy has been gradually improved.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, as well as the beginning of China's 14th Five-Year Plan. During the compiling of the report, the authors focused on the achievements of China's internet development under the strong leadership of the CPC, as well as its fresh experience and innovations in this regard. What's more, the authors also paid attention to the theme of our times and our main tasks, and dovetailed the contents of the blue paper with the country's macro-strategy and national plans for cyber and information development.

That is a brief introduction of this year's blue papers. Thank you.

The Poster News APP:

As we all know, Tongxiang is a city with an advanced economy and developed industries, especially the manufacturing industry. What progress has Tongxiang made in taking the opportunity of hosting the WIC to promote internet-driven high-quality economic development? Thank you.

Qi Li:

I will answer your question. First, I'd like to thank you for your attention to the development of Tongxiang.

Indeed, as you said, Tongxiang is a city with an advanced economy and developed industries. In 2020, its GDP reached 100.3 billion yuan (about $15.57 billion). The city now ranks 25th among China's latest top 100 counties (including county-level cities). As the permanent host city of the WIC, Tongxiang is seeking more than just regular growth achieved by enterprises of traditional strength. Ever since we began successfully hosting the WIC, we have considered the best ways to ensure the event brings benefits to the region and empowers our local enterprises to grow with internet technology. This has been our top question to think about, explore and put into practice. Generally speaking, we have made progress in three aspects.

First, we have seen a faster development. The digital economy has become the fastest growing industry with the most potential in Tongxiang. In 2014, there were merely more than 300 digital economy companies in Tongxiang. By 2020, this number had increased by more than eight times to 2,443, with an average annual increase of more than 350. Meanwhile, the output value of the digital economy's core industry here was merely more than 4 billion in 2014, but by 2020 it had grown close to 16.5 billion. This indicator continued to maintain rapid growth in the first half of this year, with an increase of 59%. The industry's rapid progress can be attributed to these surging statistics. Here I can give you examples of these developments in two industries. One is the smart car industry. In Tongxiang, the entire industry chain has been covered, such as batteries, motors, electronic controls, software and hardware for smart driving, and various other means of smart vehicle production. We can proudly say that Tongxiang has achieved the most complete smart car industrial cluster among all counties and prefectures in the country. This was totally unimaginable many years ago. The second example is the intelligent computing industry. During this year's World Internet Conference, the construction of the "Light of Wuzhen" Super-computing Center will be officially completed, and the first intelligent computing industry base in Zhejiang province, "Wuzhen Computing Town," which relies on the super-computing center, has also officially started construction. We believe that in the near future, Zhejiang's strongest computing brain will definitely show its super industrial agglomeration and radiation effects.

Second, we have seen a higher-level upgrading. "Internet Plus" has given wings to Tongxiang's industrial transformation and upgrading. We focus on industrial digitization and have vigorously promoted the transformation of "Internet Plus." In recent years, we invested around tens of billions of yuan each year to implement more than 1,000 digital transformation projects and promote higher-level industrial iterative upgrades. For example, in the manufacturing sector, through the construction of industrial command-center brains, future factories, and the Industrial Internet, production efficiency has been greatly improved. I can give you a small example: in Tongxiang, there is a traditional chemical fiber manufacturing company whose factories have been in operation for 25 years. Through the in-depth application of 5G technology, its production capacity has tripled in three years, the average human labor force has been reduced by 50%, production efficiency increased by 90%, and the comprehensive energy consumption is 20% lower than the industry average. Since the beginning of this year, we have three corporate groups that have entered the ranks of Zhejiang's Future Factory list, and five projects have entered the national list of intelligent manufacturing.

Third, we have seen a stronger driving force. Innovation is increasingly becoming the strongest driving force for the high-quality development of Tongxiang's economy. To innovate, we must have a platform. Centered on building the Wuzhen Internet Innovation and Development Pilot Zone, we have built 13 industrial innovation and development platforms led by the Big Data High-tech Industrial Park and supported by the Digital Economy Town and the Smart Vision IoT Town. A large number of innovative enterprises have settled in Tongxiang. Up to now, the total number of high-tech enterprises and technological enterprises in Tongxiang has reached 1,424. Innovation is even more inseparable from talent. In recent years, Tongxiang has attracted nearly 20,000 college graduates annually and has successfully established the first batch of "Home for Academicians" in Zhejiang province, gathering 46 academicians and securing 28 projects. This year we cooperated with Tsinghua University and Yangtze Delta Region Research Institute of Tsinghua University, and invested 1.2 billion yuan to start building the Wuzhen Lab, working together to create a gravitational field and a cradle of innovation and development. Tongxiang is also increasingly becoming a top choice for all kinds of talents in entrepreneurship and innovation.

Therefore, being faster, higher, and stronger is the most direct portrayal of Tongxiang benefiting from the huge dividends of the World Internet Conference. The people of Tongxiang are in conscious pursuit of development in order to lay a more solid foundation for Tongxiang to achieve its new goal of being a leading demonstration zone leader for common prosperity. I would like to take this opportunity to invite friends of Tongxiang to visit our city. What you will see is a Tongxiang that has been transformed by the World Internet Conference, and a Tongxiang that is even more splendid under the grand vision of building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

Red Star News:

China has decided to build Zhejiang into a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity. Can you tell us what exemplary and leading roles Zhejiang has played in promoting common prosperity? What are Zhejiang 's achievements and plans for building a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity? Thank you.

Zhu Guoxian: 

Thank you for your attention to the high-quality construction of the demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity in Zhejiang. Common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism and an important goal for socialist modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward a series of important views and proposals and made a series of important deployments. On Aug. 17, Xi stressed at the tenth meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs that rather than being egalitarian or having only a few people prosperous, common prosperity refers to affluence shared by everyone, both in material and cultural terms, and shall be advanced step by step. The meeting encouraged creating conditions that are more inclusive and fair for people to get better education and improve their development capabilities, as well as shaping a development environment that provides chances for more people to become wealthy. Zhejiang is building a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity in accordance with the requirements of Xi.

Entering the new journey of the Second Centenary Goal, Xi and the CPC Central Committee have given Zhejiang a new mission of building a demonstration zone for common prosperity through high-quality development. This is not only a political responsibility but also a golden opportunity for Zhejiang. Zhejiang held a plenary session for the provincial Party committee, which made special arrangements and put forward three concepts, namely, "supporting people to embark on the journey of prosperity through innovation and hard work, and encouraging those who have become better-off to help those still lagging behind," " government, society, enterprises and individuals working together" and "taking a phased-in approach from lower level to the higher and from part to whole." The three concepts are adopted to narrow the three gaps, including gaps between regions, urban and rural areas and incomes. The main objectives of "four leadings and three beauties" in the next five years and the main tasks of "carrying out demonstrations in seven aspects" have been clarified, and a phased road map and mission statement for promoting the construction of a demonstration zone for common prosperity has been formed.

Your question relates to what kind of development paradigm Zhejiang has adopted. I think we can use five scenarios to show Zhejiang demonstration zone for common prosperity through high-quality development. The first is one in which everyone participates and does their best to embark on the road of sustainable common prosperity, create a happy life, and build a better home through innovation, creation, self-efforts, and mutual help.

The second is a scenario of prosperity, which shows the organic unity of efficiency and fairness, as well as development and sharing. This not only requires vigorously developing productivity and continuously improving efficiency, but also preventing polarization, promoting and maintaining fairness, and realizing high-quality sharing. Our goal is that by 2025, the per capita GDP will reach 130,000 yuan and the per capita disposable income of residents will reach 75,000 yuan. Meanwhile, a new mechanism will be established and improved to encourage those who have become better-off to help those still lagging behind, so as to make development opportunities more equal and allow everyone to share in the fruits of development. Zhejiang province has 26 mountainous counties and we will focus on accelerating the development of these counties.

The third scene is a balanced picture of regional integration, promotion in all respects, and common prosperity. We will build a new framework of regional integration in urban and rural areas and shape an olive-shaped social structure with the middle-income population as the majority. By 2025, the per capita GDP difference ratio between the highest level and the lowest level in the province will narrow to within 2.1, and the income ratio between urban and rural residents will be down to within 1.9. Zhejiang is now the only province where the income ratio between urban and rural residents is within 2, compared to 1.98:1 last year. 

Zhejiang province aims to have 80% of all households earn an annual disposable income from 100,000 yuan ($15,520) to 500,000 yuan ($77,600), and 45% of all households earn an annual disposable income from 200,000 yuan ($31,040) to 600,000 yuan ($93,120).

The fourth scene is a civilized picture, which features the prosperity of people's cultural activities, harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and social solidarity and harmony.

Zhejiang province will make overall economic, political, cultural, social, and environmental progress. We will promote cultural innovation to enhance ideological progress and develop civilization to promote social progress to pursue common prosperity in cultural term, promote harmonious coexistence between man and nature and social harmony.

The fifth scene is happiness that people can see, touch, and experience. Zhejiang province will make a digital transformation to promote quality and efficiency of public services to solve people's problems, worries, expectations, and concerns. It will take the lead in making significant progress in ensuring access to childcare, education, employment, medical services, elderly care, housing, and social assistance to meet people's multilevel and diverse needs in their entire life.

I'm here to invite you to Zhejiang to experience and join in building the five scenes of a happy life. You're welcome to give valuable advice on the building of Zhejiang into a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity. Thank you.

Cover News:

What is the current state of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry in China? How will this conference reflect the use of the targeted empowerment of AI? Thank you.

Zhao Zeliang:

First, you can find the answer in the Wuzhen Summit. I believe that AI must be the focus of this year's Wuzhen Summit.

From main forums to sub-forums and from the "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition to the Release of World Leading Internet Scientific and Technological Achievements, I believe that there is a large amount of information about AI technical products. 

Hence, I suggest that you go to Wuzhen to listen and participate in discussions to find answers to your questions. However, I will outline some ideas about this issue in advance for your reference.

In recent years, with the rapid improvement of internet technology and big data technology, especially computing and communication capabilities, and the widespread application of perception technology, AI has indeed entered a new stage of development.

Artificial intelligence not only embodies deep learning, such as natural language processing and text processing, but also the synthesis of our voices and text. One day in the future, with the application and development of AI technology, it will be possible that AI technology will write news faster than all you journalists.

But don't worry, you won't lose your job, and you will become smarter with time.

We have seen much progress in human-machine collaboration and the widespread application of AI in automatic control. The popular idea of intelligent vehicles has become a reality. So, AI has entered a new stage of development. AI is not just an industry. I think it will profoundly change the way we live, study, and work. It may also greatly promote social and economic development. I believe AI development will give rise to more new products, technologies, industries, business forms, and models. All these will greatly promote the development of human society and bring tangible benefits to the common people.

Many countries, including China, are paying significant attention to AI development. China has formulated a national plan to boost its AI-related technologies. We need to support AI development, as it will likely become a driving force in social development and a new growth engine. At the same time, we need to develop AI in a rational and rule-based way. AI can greatly benefit society and promote development. However, like everything else, AI may also have negative effects. People are concerned about personal information collection and privacy protection. With the further development of AI, such challenges will become more serious and potential risks more visible. In the era of AI, to protect the safety and interests of netizens and safeguard national security, we should regard these issues as being no less important than economic growth. We should fully implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions and balance development and security. This is especially important for AI development.

We also need to strengthen cooperation on AI development. As I said just now, AI integrates technologies in various fields, including the internet, information and communication, big data, computing, and perception. We need to strengthen cooperation, especially international cooperation, to accelerate and better regulate AI development. That's my view on these issues, but the real answers will be provided in Wuzhen. Thank you.

Shou Xiaoli:

The CAC and Zhejiang province have sent invitations. We welcome journalists to the 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit scheduled to take place from Sept. 26 to 28. That's all for today's press conference. Thank you, all the speakers. Thank you, friends from the media. Goodbye!

Translated and edited by Zhu Bochen, Wang Qian, Gao Zhan, Huang Shan, Wang Yiming, Liu Sitong, Liu Jianing, Yuan Fang, Yang Xi, Chen Xia, Li Xiao, Zhang Liying, Zhang Rui, Liu Qiang, Xiang Bin, Zhou Jing, Wang Mengru, Zhang Junmian, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.