Digital Silk Road forum to woo belt and road partners
Initiative part of Beijing’s efforts to promote its tech vision amid increasingly divided cyberspace
China will host a forum next month to promote its digital-economy growth model and facilitate the development of digital infrastructure in partner nations of its Belt and Road Initiative strategy to grow global trade.
The Digital Silk Road (DSR) Development Forum would open on April 16 in Xian, Shaanxi province, and was co-organised by the World Internet Conference (WIC) and the provincial government, WIC secretary general Ren Xianliang announced at a news conference in Beijing yesterday.
China launched the DSR initiative in 2015 as the technology arm of the belt and road plan, with the aim of boosting digital connectivity. WIC, which started as an annual forum, was turned into an “international organisation” in 2022 to further Beijing’s views on how the internet should be managed and developed.
The theme of the DSR forum would be mutual connectivity and common prosperity, with a focus on three areas: developing connectivity and narrowing the digital divide, cross-border e-commerce and rural digital infrastructure initiatives, Ren said.
China is trying to retain its role as an important global trade and investment partner in an increasingly fragmented cyberspace and trade landscape. As Beijing is at odds with Western countries in data and cyberspace management, the Chinese government is trying to sway other nations and companies to side with its vision.
Participants from over 30 countries and regions will attend the forum, including US chip giants Intel, Micron Technology and Qualcomm, as well as Chinese e-commerce platform operators PDD Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding, computer giant Lenovo Group and insurer Pingan Group, according to the organisers. Alibaba owns the Post.
“With the digital economy becoming an important engine to drive industrial growth … the launch of the forum will facilitate all parties to build together the digital silk road and narrow the digital divide between BRI countries and regions,” Ren said, referring to the belt and road plan.
About one-third of the global population, or 2.6 billion people, had yet to connect to the internet, Ren said, citing data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The UN agency said many of those with no access to the internet were in low-income countries.
“[There are people] who are not able to access the internet and enjoy the life-changing benefits that it can bring in the era of digital transformation,” said Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, in a statement published on its website.
Cross-border e-commerce will be another focus of the forum. It would discuss topics ranging from international data cooperation and trade facilitation to e-commerce services and logistics system development, and talent cultivation, with the goal of tapping into the trade potential of the belt and road plan partners, widening digital economic cooperation, and advancing the e-commerce sector, Ren said.