Xi Jinping Attends Opening Ceremony of the Second World Internet Conference and Delivers Keynote Speech, Emphasizing to Step up Communication, Broaden Consensus and Deepen Cooperation to Jointly Build a Community of Shared Destiny in Cyberspace
Liu Yunshan Chairs and Addresses the Opening Ceremony
On the morning of December 16, 2015, the second World Internet Conference was convened in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech, emphasizing that the Internet is a common space for mankind, and all countries should jointly build a community of shared destiny in cyberspace and promote connectivity, sharing and co-governance of cyberspace so as to help create a better future for the development of the mankind.
Xi Jinping pointed out that the information technology represented by the Internet is making dazzling progress with each passing day, which has led new transformation of social production, created new space for human life and expanded new areas for state governance, thus dramatically enhancing human beings' ability to understand and change the world. China is in the historic process of rapid development in information technology. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, China will vigorously implement the strategy of reinvigorating the country through the Internet, and let development achievements of the Internet bring benefits to the 1.3-odd billion Chinese people and better benefit people around the world.
Xi Jinping stated that at present, such problems as imbalanced development, inadequate regulations and inequitable order of the Internet are becoming increasingly prominent. The international community should, on the basis of mutual respect and mutual trust, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, and promote the transformation of global Internet governance system so as to jointly foster a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace and build a multilateral, democratic and transparent global Internet governance system. We should stick to respecting the cyber sovereignty and honoring the rights of countries to choose independently cyberspace development path, cyberspace regulation models and Internet public policies and to participate in the international cyberspace governance as equals. We should persist in maintaining peace and security. Cyberspace should not be the battlefield for countries to compete with each other, or the breeding ground for illegal and criminal activities. No double standards should be allowed when upholding cyber security. We should stick to advancing opening up and cooperation, create more converging points of interests, growth points for cooperation and new highlights for win-win results, complement each other's advantages and promote common development in cyberspace, give more countries and peoples the chance to ride the fast train of the information age and allow them to enjoy the achievements of Internet development. We should insist on building sound order by governing, running and surfing the Internet in accordance with the law. Meanwhile, we should also strengthen the construction of cyber ethics and cyber civilization, and give play to the educating and guiding role of morality.
Xi Jinping stressed that cyberspace is the common activity space for all mankind, and its future and destiny should be in the hands of all nations in the world. Countries all over the world should step up communication, broaden consensus and deepen cooperation so as to jointly build a community of shared destiny in cyberspace. To this end, Xi Jinping put forward five proposals. Firstly, we should speed up the building of global cyber infrastructure and promote connectivity so as to enable more developing countries and their peoples to share development opportunities brought by the Internet. Secondly, we should build an online platform for cultural exchanges and sharing, promote exchanges and mutual learning among outstanding cultures in the world and advance exchanges of feelings and communications by heart among peoples of all countries. Thirdly, we should promote the innovation-driven development of a cyber-economy for common prosperity, advance investment and trade development around the world and propel the development of global digital economy. Fourthly, we should maintain cyber security, promote its orderly development, and push forward the formulation of international cyberspace rules accepted by all parties so as to jointly uphold the peace and security of cyberspace. Fifthly, we should build an Internet governance system to promote equity and justice, and should adhere to a multilateral approach with multi-party participation so as to reflect the aspiration and interests of the majority of countries in a more balanced manner.
Xi Jinping expressed in the end that the Internet is a common homeland for mankind. Hosting the World Internet Conference is in the hope of setting up a platform for the sharing and co-governance of global Internet, thus jointly promoting the healthy development of the Internet. Let's join hands to push forward the connectivity, sharing and co-governance of cyberspace to help create a better future for the development of mankind.
President Mamnoon Hussain of Pakistan, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Prime Minister Karim Masimov of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Temir Sariyev of Kyrgyzstan, Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda of Tajikistan, First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov of Uzbekistan, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Zhao Houlin, and founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab delivered a speech respectively. Under Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Wu Hongbo read out the speech by Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon. They expressed their support for China in hosting the World Internet Conference, and said that as the Internet exerts increasing influences, digital economy has become an important part of global economy. It conforms to the common interests of peoples of all countries to promote the healthy development of the Internet. Maintaining cyber security, cracking down on cyber crime and bridging digital gaps are common challenges facing countries all over the world. The global governance of the Internet should follow the principle of mutual respect and mutual trust, and all countries should make joint efforts to establish a durable and secure community of shared destiny in cyberspace, so as to bring more benefits to peoples of all countries.
While chairing the opening ceremony, Liu Yunshan said that President Xi Jinping's attendance at the conference and delivery of a keynote speech fully demonstrate the high attention that the Chinese government pays to the conference. Building a community of shared destiny in cyberspace is a common responsibility of the international community. It is hoped that guests present will conduct in-depth discussions, strengthen mutual learning and pool consensus, so as to contribute wisdom and strength to jointly building a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace and establishing a multilateral, democratic and transparent global Internet governance system.
Prior to the opening ceremony, Xi Jinping took group photos with attending guests.
Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi, Wang Qinmin and others attended the above-mentioned activities.
The second World Internet Conference was held from December 16 to 18, themed "An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All- Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace". Over 2,000 guests including government representatives, principals of international organizations, leading figures of Internet enterprises, famous entrepreneurs, experts and scholars, and representatives of college students from over 120 countries and regions of the five continents attended the conference.