China Will Host the 'World Internet Conference' Next Week to Promote its Vision of Governance

The annual World Internet Conference (WIC), organized by Beijing to advance its vision and model for internet governance, will take place from November 9 to 11, according to the event's organizer, who made the announcement during a press conference on Monday.

Who Will Attend the Event?

As reported first by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the event will be attended by Nobel and Turin laureates, executives from Russian cyber security company Kaspersky, and Indian IT giant Infosys. It will take place in Wuzhen, eastern Zhejiang province.

Chinese tech giants will also take part in the event such as Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding, and Huawei Technologies Co.

Covid-19 has significantly affected the event in the past two years since it has reduced the participation of foreign attendees. SCMP also noted that China's efforts to tighten regulations in the Big Tech sector have cast doubts and uncertainties in the greater tech field.

But the event may still serve as a chance for several businesses to draw positive responses from Beijing. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and the newly-minted Chief Twit participated in the event last year by sending a video message.

The CEO of Qualcomm, Cristiano Amon, also took part by appearing in a video message.

"A digital future for cyberspace with a shared future" is the conference's theme this year. Even though the Great Firewall of China has blocked most Western internet services, including Google and Facebook, this line mirrors Chinese President Xi Jinping's goal for the country of a "human community with a shared future."

Internet Governance

Internet governance has been a recurring issue of the WIC, which has been held yearly for eight years. In July, China declared its intention to turn the gathering into a global organization to advance cyberspace sovereignty among its members, which also include Algeria, Sudan, Somalia, and Russia.

The only developed country in the group is South Korea, according to SCMP.

At the event, two status reports on the development of the internet will be published, one focusing on China and the other on the entire world. Reports on China's experience in creating internet governance for content, security, and establishing a "new order for global cyberspace" will also be included, as per SCMP's report.

Last year, President Xi Jinping stressed in his keynote speech how the Internet should be a joint global responsibility. He said: "Countries should follow the trend of the times, shoulder responsibility for development, meet challenges and risks, jointly promote global governance in cyberspace and strive to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace."

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Written by Jace Dela Cruz