China holds first world Internet conference, urges better governance

Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov. 19, 2014. Representatives from nearly 100 countries and regions took part in the three-day Internet conference. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

China held the First Internet Conference in the rivertown of Wuzhen, calling for global Internet interconnectivity and shared governance by all.

The conference saw roughly 1,000 Internet professionals, officials and experts from more than 100 countries and regions in attendance.

Founders of China's top three Internet companies Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu as well as executives from global giants including Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook all joined the gala.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory note to the ceremony, hoping countries can jointly build a cyberspace of peace, security, openness and cooperation and an international Internet governance system of multilateralism, democracy and transparency.

Xi urged better international cooperation, more respect for sovereignty on the Internet and for countries to uphold cyber security following the principle of mutual respect and mutual trust.

Chinese Vice-Premier Ma Kai, who attended the opening ceremony, called for joint efforts of the international community to promote the interconnectivity of Internet infrastructure, prosperity of Internet economy, strengthen the sharing of Internet technologies and to ensure cyberspace safety.

Ma added that Internet infrastructure will be one of the prioritized investment areas of the planned Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund.

Lu Wei, minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, hoped the attendees would make plans for Internet interconnectivity and shared governance as well as promote consensus and to make a historical contribution for the Internet.

China has made tremendous progress in Internet development in the past decade with the most active Internet-based e-commerce in the world. Alibaba Group, the country's e-commerce giant and the second largest Internet company in the world in market value, had daily sales of 57.1 billion yuan (9.28 billion U.S. dollars) on Nov. 11, the Singles' Day shopping spree.

Boasting 632 million Internet users, China is a lucrative market for all the Internet giants.

Linkedin, the world's largest business-oriented social network with more than 300 million users, has been used by many global Chinese enterprises, including Baidu and Tencent, to search for talents, said its founder Reid Hoffman in a speech at the conference on Wednesday. The company launched its Chinese language version in February.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies are expanding overseas with their expertise in Internet infrastructure and commercial development.

The backbone transmission network of Tanzania, which now has more than 7,560 kilometers throughout the country, was built by China and helped Tanzania become the Internet hub of east Africa, said Tanzanian Minister of Communication, Science and Technology Makame M. Mbarawa in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"Chinese Internet has not only deeply changed all aspects of social life and economy in the country, it is also participating in the development of the global Internet, providing unique values for the world," said Jack Ma, the Alibaba chairman.

Ma added that the Internet provides not only opportunities for the mankind's common development but also increases responsibilities.

The three-day conference covers issues on new media, mobile Internet, cross-border e-commerce, cyber terrorism, Internet financing, cyberspace security and Internet governance.