Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit via video on Nov 8, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for letting the internet better benefit people of all countries when he addressed the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit via video.

Xi said the vision of jointly building a community with a shared future in cyberspace, which he proposed at the second WIC in 2015, has garnered widespread international recognition and positive responses.

The vision answers the questions of our times related to resolving the development deficit, addressing security challenges, and enhancing mutual learning between civilizations, he said.

Xi stressed the need to respect cyber sovereignty and each country's way of internet governance and the need to oppose seeking hegemony, bloc confrontation and arms race in cyberspace

Organized in the ancient water town of Wuzhen in east China's Zhejiang province, the summit features 20 sub-forums covering topics such as digital economy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and coordinated transformation for digital and green development. It's theme is "Creating an Inclusive and Resilient Digital World Beneficial to All – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace".

Reports on China and global internet development, awards for pioneering science and technology, and outstanding cases of jointly building a community with a shared future in cyberspace will be released at this year's summit, lasting until Friday.

In his address, the Chinese leader stressed that the international community needs to deepen exchanges and practical cooperation to jointly advance the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace to a new stage.

He called for prioritizing development to let the fruits of internet development benefit more countries and people.

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Xi emphasized the need to improve public access to information-based services, bridge the digital divide, and improve people's livelihood with internet development.

Calling for building a more peaceful and secure cyberspace, he stressed the need to respect cyber sovereignty and each country's way of internet governance and the need to oppose seeking hegemony, bloc confrontation and arms race in cyberspace.

Xi went on to underscore the need to crack down on cyber crimes, strengthen data security and personal information protection, and properly respond to the risks and challenges brought by sci-tech development to rules, society and ethics.

In his address to the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, President Xi emphasizes the need to improve public access to information-based services and improve people's livelihood with internet development, Nov 8, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

China is willing to work with all parties to implement the Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative and promote the safe development of AI, Xi said.

He also called for building a more equal and inclusive cyberspace. He stressed the need to better promote the shared values of humanity.

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Xi underlined more high-quality online cultural products and efforts to fully showcase the outstanding achievements of human civilizations and actively promote civilization preservation and development.

This year's event also features new activities including the awarding of honorary titles and the inauguration of a global youth leadership program under the framework of the WIC.

The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the WIC Wuzhen Summit. Since 2014, it has welcomed nearly 12,000 participants from 172 countries and regions.