China’s president to make first speech to global web forum
Xi Jinping’s attendance at second World Internet Conference points to importance of new economy
President Xi Jinping will attend the second World Internet Conference to be held next week, an event that reflects the growing importance of the web as one of the most significant players in economic development.
Lu Wei, the head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, confirmed that Xi would deliver a keynote speech at the event, scheduled to be held on December 16-18 in Wuzhen town, Zhejiang province.
Xi sent a congratulatory note to the conference last year, urging stronger international cooperation, more respect for sovereignty on the internet and for countries to uphold cybersecurity according to the principle of mutual respect and trust.
More than 2,000 participants from 120 countries and regions are due to participate in the event, including eight foreign leaders and close to 50 ministerial-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, Lu said.
Also expected to attend were the 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, domestic telecoms and smartphone leaders like Huawei and ZTE Corp, and tech start-ups like car-hailing app Didi Kuaidi.
ZTE president Shi Lirong said the conference would be an important platform to promote internet-based thinking and the web economy, which had huge potential on the mainland.
