The 2023 World Internet Conference concluded with a bang on November 10th in Wuzhen, Zhejiang. The summit, which attracted 126 countries from around the world, focused on the theme of “Building an inclusive, resilient, and digital world—Joining hands to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace.” The conference, held both online and offline, brought together more than 1,800 guests, marking a record high in attendance from countries around the globe.
The closing press conference released the various achievements of the conference, with 13 “Excellent Cases of Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace” being unveiled. These cases ranged from e-commerce initiatives helping Ethiopian farmers sell coffee worldwide to online classes aiding rural Chinese men in starting a new life for their families.
The summit also saw the release of important documents such as “Network Sovereignty: Theory and Practice” (version 4.0), “China Internet Development Report 2023”, and “World Internet Development Report 2023,” showcasing the progress of global and Chinese internet development over the past year.
This year, the Wuzhen Summit celebrated several prominent “firsts,” including the opening of the first World Internet Science and Technology Museum, the establishment of the inaugural “Global Young Leaders Program,” and the unveiling of the “World Internet Conference Leading Technology Award.”
In addition to its technological initiatives, the Wuzhen Summit highlighted the cultural integration of digital and traditional elements. Participants were treated to an “Wuzhen on the Cloud·Internet Rebirth” XR experience show, combining real-life scenes with digital technology. The summit aimed to showcase Zhejiang’s historical and cultural heritage and social development momentum using carefully designed event settings, volunteer clothing, and provincial brand elements.
The Wuzhen Summit has had wide-ranging spillover effects, with a significant impact on Zhejiang and Tongxiang, the conference’s permanent host. Driven by the summit, pilot tasks such as the Digital Economy Innovation and Development Pilot Zone and major projects like the “Light of Wuzhen” supercomputing center have found their home in Zhejiang. For Tongxiang, the number of national high-tech enterprises has increased from more than 40 to nearly 700, with the added value of the city’s core manufacturing industry seeing substantial annual growth.
As a fitting close to the 2023 World Internet Conference, the Zhejiang sub-forum featured discussions led by 15 domestic and foreign experts on the theme of “Digital Economy Leads the Construction of a Modern Industrial System.” The sub-forum aimed to pave new paths of integration and industrial collaboration and sought new measures to lead the implementation of high-quality development in the digital economy.
The summit concluded with the signing of more than 70 projects exceeding 100 billion yuan and the initiation of the establishment of the “Yangtze River Delta Intelligent Industry Hundreds” and “Wuzhen Dialogue” cooperation mechanisms during the “Yangtze River Delta Integrated Digital Civilization Co-construction and Sharing” event. Additionally, Zhejiang accelerated the promotion of the national digital rural leading zone and digital empowerment at the “Digital Empowerment Common Prosperity Demonstration Zone Construction Exhibition Event.”
All in all, the 2023 World Internet Conference in Wuzhen was a resounding success, marking new milestones in technological innovation, international collaboration, and cultural integration.