Live report: Press conference of the 2nd World Internet Conference

The State Council Information Office is holding this Press Conference for the 2nd World Internet Conference, on Dec 9, at 10:00 am. Lu Wei, head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, and Ge Huijun,director of the publicity department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, vice-chairman of the WIC organizing committee, are now invited to introduce the 2nd WIC, which is to be held at Wuzhen, in Zhejiang province, Dec 16-18. They will also answer the questions of journalists from home and abroad.

9:56 a.m.

Lu Wei:

Dear friends from the press,

Good morning!

Welcome to the press conference of the Second World Internet Conference. One year ago, I was here to welcome you at the First World Internet Conference. Today, I am glad to meet you again.

This year's conference will be held from December 16th to 18th in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. The theme of the meeting is "An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All—Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace".

The Chinese government attaches great importance to this conference. Chinese President and CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping will attend the conference and address the opening ceremony.

Lu Wei, head of the Cyberspace Administration of China introduces the 2nd World Internet Conference at the press conference on Dec 9. [Photo/China Daily]

9:57 a.m.

Lu Wei:

This year's meeting carries more features in comparison to last year's , such as:

1. Larger scale. It will have more than 2,000 participants from around the world, including 8 foreign leaders and close to 50 ministry-level officials, among them are Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Temir Sariyev, and Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda.

2. More representatives from more places. The participants come from more than 120 countries and regions, including the leaders of least 20 important global organizations, and more than 600 leading figures and experts from the Internet industry, specializing in different aspects of the Internet and cyberspace.

9:59 a.m.

Lu Wei:

3. More content. There will be 10 forums covering 22 subjects, including Internet cultural communication, innovative development of the Internet, digital economic cooperation, Internet technical standard, and cyberspace governance. During the "Light of Internet" Exhibitions, state-of-the-art developments and latest achievements in the Internet industry will be put on display.

4. The conference is smarter. As the permanent venue for the World Internet Conference, Wuzhen has become a city with positive environment, appealing culture, and improved access to Internet and intelligent services. With the support of Internet technology, Wuzhen has seen rapid development in online medical services, smart elderly care, government administration and makerspace. The conference is equipped with a tailor-made app, a cloud system, 4G Internet, fully coveraged Wi-Fi, and intelligent meeting services. With all the smart services, Wuzhen is ready to greet all friends.

The conference is co-hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the government of Zhejiang province. For the first time, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, International Telecommunication Union, World Intellectual Property Organization and World Economic Forum joined as co-organizers.

We have also set up a press center to help reporters to better cover the meeting and appreciate the charm of the ancient city of Wuzhen.

Ge Huijun, head of Zhejiang Provincial Publicity Department speaks at the press conference of 2nd World Internet Conference on Dec 9. [Photo/China Daily]

10:08a.m.

Ge Huijun:

Dear friends in the media, good morning. I am delighted to attend the press conference today.

The first World Internet Conference, held last year in Wuzhen, is still fresh in my memory. One year later, the beautiful town of Wuzhen in Zhejiang province is hosting the second World Internet Conference, and the annual "Wuzhen time" has arrived once again.

The World Internet Conference has permanently settled down in Wuzhen, reflecting the trust the central government has placed on us, and bringing great opportunities for the future of Zhejiang's development. The Conference has already brought about many changes to the province.

10:10 a.m.

Ge Huijun:

First, Wuzhen has experienced great changes. It is endowed with deep care and concern from President Xi Jinping, who visited Wuzhenfor five times when he worked in Zhejiang, designing the development path for the ancient town.

Adhering to the development concept of the President, Wuzhen has taken off again while hosting the World Internet Conference.

Wuzhen has fully merged with the "Internet Plus"concept, with online medical services, smart tourism, and intelligent traffic successively put into operation. Its charmappeal will be further release enhanced with the full coverage of free WIFI inside the whole Wuzhen Scenic Area. Wuzhen is not only a historical town anda tourist town, but also a smart town and a pioneering town for start-ups.

10:12 a.m.

Ge Huijun:

The second change is the economic structure. The World Internet Conference has now settled permanently in Wuzhen, a town in Zhejiang province with over 7,000 years of history. The conference has advanced "Internet Plus" development in the province, and the Information-oriented economy has become a spotlight in its economic growth. Statistics show that last year, the index of the province's informationization reached 97.98, while the integrated index of industrialization and informationization reached 86.26, ranking the third highest in the nation. The information-oriented economy's added value was 228.8 billion ($35.75 billion) in the first nine months of 2015, taking up 7.7 percent in the province's GDP. Emerging industries, such as e-commerce, Internet financing, Internet of Things, intelligent logistics, cloud computing and big data, and other Internet Plus industries, have all developed the own competitiveness over other provinces. The Internet has now truly become a new economic gene in Zhejiang province.

Thirdly, the summit is a growth engine. Zhejiang people are well known for their diligence and entrepreneurship, and local entrepreneurs always start their business from the scratch. The WIC will help Zhejiang attract global Internet talent and fuel local innovation and entrepreneurship.

Breaking ground and starting new businesses have become a phenomenon in Zhejiang. The Dream Village in Hangzhou has ushered in 4,100 experts with 380 startup projects since it was launched half a year ago. The Computing Conference, just convened under the witness of more than 40,000 attendees, offers a glimpse of the bright future of the information economy and the possibilities of the Internet Plus strategy, said Ge Huijun.

10:17a.m.

Reporters begin to ask questions

A Journalist asks question at the press conference of 2nd World Internet Conference on Dec 9. [Photo/China Daily]

CCTV: The conference this year has the theme "An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All -- Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace". Could you please explain a little bit about this theme?

10:18 a.m.

Lu Wei:

The theme of the 2nd World Internet Conference is "An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All—Building a community of common future in cyberspace". Interconnectivity is the essence, which means the information is accessed at one point, and can be shared by the entire network. The Internet has turned the world into a "global village", and the cyberspace has become a new living space for mankind. The international society is becoming an interconnected community with a common future.

A peaceful, safe, stable and booming cyberspace is of great significance to the peaceful development of a country even the whole world. Nobody will remain immune from this space. Global sharing entails global governance. We have to deal with problems and challenges together.

China will assume the responsibility of a great network power. By holding the World Internet Conference, we hope to build a multilateral, democratic, transparent international Internet governance system that will better benefit the whole world.

10:21a.m.

The Beijing News:

Mr Lu, what do you think about the foreign media's report that "the Chinese government has controlled the Internet firmly?" As Internet users, we sometimes find articles or posts on social media have been deleted, what's your opinion about this phenomenon?

10:23 a.m.

Lu Wei:

For the previous question, I've also noticed some reports from certain Western media. Some said China wants to control the Internet, which is just like nailing jelly to a wall.

The unknown part for the Internet far exceeds that of the known part. Some netizens said we do not know much about the Internet, then it becomes the Internet of Things; we do not fully understand cloud computing, then the fog computing appears. I'm afraid no country could boast it has brought the Internet totally under its control.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Government has strengthened governance of problems over the Internet, especially online rumors, cyber-related crimes and cyber pornography. To protect the legal rights of the netizens, and a healthy environment for raising youth, we've achieved effective results and made cyber space cleaner.

However, we cannot overestimate our achievements. We are exploring an Internet management path with Chinese characteristics, which fundamentally means administrating the Internet through law. In other words, we should manage the relation between freedom and order. Just like the real world, cyber space is in no way beyond the law, and we need both freedom and order.

Like the morning rush on Chaonei Avenue in Beijing, all of us want to travel smoothly, that's why we need to stress the importance of order.

10:33 a.m.

Zhejiang Satellite TV:

What has changed in Wuzhen in the past years after the first World Internet Conference was held? What is the greatest benefit for Wuzhen as the permanent host of the conference?