Fourth World Internet Conference Concludes

The fourth World Internet Conference (WIC), co-hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and the Zhejiang Provincial government, was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province on Dec 3-5, 2017, with the theme “Developing Digital Economy for Openness and Shared Benefits — Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace”.
 
Over 1,500 attendees, including government officials, representatives from international organizations, leaders from key Internet companies, and academia from over 80 countries, attended WIC this year. Xu Lin, the head of CAC, presided over the opening ceremony. President Xi delegated Huang Kunming, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and the head of the Propaganda Department, to convey his congratulatory message and thoughts on cyberspace.
 
In President Xi’s letter of less than 500 words, he re-emphasized the “four principles and a proposal with five main points,” which call for respect of cyber sovereignty and equal and fair participation in the global cyber governance system. Furthermore, he highlighted the action plan to build a strong cyber power, a digital China and a smart society as laid out in the recent 19th Party Congress, and stated that China will promote the integration of the Internet, big data and artificial intelligence with traditional sectors. Lastly, he expressed China’s willingness to cooperate with global economies to develop a digital economy and made the commitment that "China's door to the world will never close, but will only open wider”.