Xi Congratulates Opening of Fifth World Internet Conference

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, reads out a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping and delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the fifth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, on Nov 7, 2018.[Photo by Chen Zebing/chinadaily.com.cn]

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the fifth World Internet Conference, which opened Wednesday in Wuzhen of eastern China's Zhejiang Province.

The world is going through a broader and deeper science and technology revolution and industrial transformation, Xi said in the letter.

We should speed up the development of the digital economy and promote the global Internet governance system to advance in a just and more reasonable way, so as to inject new impetus to the world economy, Xi said.

Despite having different conditions and facing various challenges, countries across the world share the need to promote the digital economy, the interests in handling challenges to cybersecurity, and the demands for better governance in cyberspace, Xi said.

He called for concrete cooperation among different countries to advance mutual trust and collective governance in cyberspace and create a vigorous "community with a shared future in cyberspace."

The conference is themed "creating a digital world for mutual trust and collective governance -- towards a community with a shared future in cyberspace."

Xi expressed the hope that participants can pool wisdom, accumulate consensus and work for a sustainable digital world.

The annual event, organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the People's Government of Zhejiang province, will discuss ways to improve mutual trust and steps for collective governance along with measures to boost innovation.

It is themed "creating a digital world for mutual trust and collective governance — toward a community with a shared future in cyberspace".

More than 1,500 governmental delegates, international organization representatives, leading internet entrepreneurs and experts all around the globe have been invited.

Nineteen subforums are planned, covering a wide range of topics related to AI, 5G, financial technology, cybersecurity, digital economy as well as the internet and public services.

The conference ends on Nov 9.