China ready to deepen intl co-ops, uphold cyber security: Xi

China is ready to work with other countries to deepen international cooperation, respect sovereignty on the Internet and uphold cyber security, said President Xi Jinping in a message of congratulations on Wednesday.

"Following the principle of mutual respect and mutual trust, China is ready to work with other countries to deepen international cooperation, respect sovereignty on the Internet, uphold cyber security, and jointly build a cyberspace of peace, security, openness and cooperation and an international Internet governance system of multilateralism, democracy and transparency."

Xi said in the congratulatory letter sent to the three-day First World Internet Conference opened in scenic Wuzhen, a historic water town in eastern Zhejiang Province, that China is actively advancing the development of the Internet and extending its benefit to the 1.3 billion Chinese people.

Xi said that amid a new round of scientific and technological revolution with information technology at its core, the Internet is increasingly becoming a pacesetter of innovation-driven development, profoundly changing people's ways of production and life and powering social development.

It has turned the world into a global village and made the international community highly interdependent, with a common destiny, Xi said in the letter, read out by Vice Premier Ma Kai at the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, Xi said "the development of the Internet has posed new challenges to national sovereignty, security and development interests," which requires the international community to meet urgently and seriously and pursue common governance and win-win outcome.

With "An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All" as its theme, the World Internet Conference has reflected the major issues of cyberspace that the international community is focused on, he said.

Xi also extended warm welcome to all participants, including government officials from various countries, heads of international institutions, experts, scholars and business people.

He said he hoped that participants would contribute creative ideas, pool wisdom and build consensus, to ensure that the Internet will bring even greater benefit to mankind.

The conference, jointly held by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, will cover topics including global Internet governance, mobile Internet, cross-border e-commerce, cyber security and terrorism.

Attendees of the conference include Alibaba chairman Jack Ma, Tencent founder and chairman Pony Ma, Chinese search engine Baidu CEO Li Yanhong, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) CEO Fadi Chehade and representatives from Qualcomm, Microsoft and Samsung, among more than 1,000 delegates from nearly 100 countries and regions.

The event will be covered by nearly 500 reporters from China and abroad.