Chinese President to attend upcoming 2nd World Internet Conference

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the upcoming Second World Internet Conference (WIC) in the river town of Wuzhen in east China's Zhejiang Province, an official announced on Wednesday. Xi is expected to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the conference, which is scheduled to be held between Dec. 16 and 18, said Lu Wei, minister in charge of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), at a press conference. More than 2,000 attendees from over 120 countries and regions will participate in the conference, with foreign guests accounting for roughly half, Lu said. Conference participants include representatives of governments, international organizations, Internet companies, academics, experts, think tanks and foreign and domestic college students. The representatives also include the prime ministers of Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as senior officials from the United Nations, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Lenovo, Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent. The conference will cover 22 topics, including Internet cultural transmission, Internet innovation and development, digital economy cooperation, Internet technology standards and cyber space management. Ten sub-forums will be held during the conference on topics such as the "Internet Plus" strategy, digital China and Internet innovation. An expo and more than 80 press conferences will be held during the second WIC, showcasing cutting-edge technology and the latest achievements from about 260 enterprises from all over the world. Local officials from Zhejiang Province praised the changes the WIC has brought to Wuzhen and provincial economic development. They vowed to provide high-quality services for the conference. Lu also defended the CAC's role in Internet management when responding to questions about access to some foreign websites, saying their business activities should abide by China's laws and regulations. "China adheres to reform and opening up to the outside world," said Lu, adding that "for those foreign firms that want to enter China, there is a basic rule: they must abide by Chinese laws and regulations." Lu proposed joint efforts to build a "peaceful, safe and transparent" Internet for the welfare of people worldwide. Guo Weimin, deputy head of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), said the SCIO will provide on-the-spot press release service during the second WIC. The conference will be co-hosted by the CAC and Zhejiang provincial government. The first WIC was held in Wuzhen in November last year.