WIC: A ride on China’s express train of digital economic development

By Shafei Moiz Hali

The internet and its supporting technologies are advancing at an exponential rate, according to moor’s law computing power doubles every 18 months. If we compared the processing power for various computers and devices from 1956 to present day technologies we will see a 1 trillion-fold increase in performance over those six decades. With these massive advancements come challenges in various shapes and sizes, because the technology and the internet is evolving so fast that many technologies are becoming obsolete before the larger public even gets a chance to fully adapt to them. For states and governments these advancements also bring challenges; most of these challenges stem from that fact that the states need to collaborate with one another to fully reap the benefits of these technological advancements. The 4th World Internet Conference (WIC) is being held in Wuzhen, a water town in east China's Zhejiang Province. The theme of this year’s conference is 'Developing Digital Economy for Openness and Shared Benefits - Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace'.

Delegates attend the Fourth World Internet Conference in the water town of Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, Dec. 3, 2017. The conference opened Sunday in Wuzhen.[Photo: Xinhua]

The 4th WIC is organized by 32 international institutions, domestic ministries and commissions, industry associations and well-known enterprises. There are also 26 organizations, universities and companies acting as co-organizers. For this year’s conference over 1,500 people will participate, from over 80 countries and five continents, including heads of international organizations, Internet business leaders, Internet celebrities, experts and scholars. 

The theme for this year’s conference focuses primarily on “digital economy” and for any economy to gain advancements; trade and connectivity with other economies is paramount. Similarly modern concept of digital economy also demands the same; which is why the 4th WIC will advocate the significance of openness, sharing and interconnectedness in the virtual world of cyberspace. These virtues can be practiced in the case of physical trade thus they can also be replicated for digital economies, but for this concept to work; states and organizations need to have a platform of joint governance which China is willing to provide. If this concept can be translated in to reality it can help bridge the gap between the developing and the developed countries. 

The global economic growth rate got severely snagged by the financial crisis in 2008 and ever since it hasn’t picked up the pace it ought to, and the spread of populism hasn’t helped the cause either. Major global players like USA have started to take a U-turn from globalization and China has emerged as the bastion of globalization and trade openness. Under the leadership of Chinese president Xi Jinping, the CPC has been painstakingly busy at revolutionizing the economic growth model of China; in which China is now focused at quality growth rather than quantity. To achieve this, President Xi’s vision promotes technological advancements and innovation. Which is why for the 4th WIC, President Xi in a letter to the WIC stressed that, “China hopes to encourage countries around the world to take a ride on the express train of internet and digital economic development.”

President Xi’s vision for the future, targets prosperity, trade openness and exponential economic development through innovation and technology advancements and this bright future is not only envisioned for China but for all, as President Xi is a staunch believer of cooperation and believes that for this dream to become a reality; a community of shared interests and win-win scenarios is principal. This is why China has embarked upon the Belt and Road Initiative. This vision of president Xi is evident in his letter to the WIC, in which he states, “China hopes to work with the international community to respect cyberspace sovereignty and carry forward the spirit of partnership to commonly advance development, safeguard security, participate in governance, and share the benefits.” President Xi stressed that "China's doors to the world will never close, but will only open wider.”

At the opening session of the 4th WIC the key note address was provided by Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and member of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat. Mr. Wang’s speech resonated on the same notes as that of President Xi and Mr. Wang said, “China is willing to conform to the historic opportunities brought by the development of the internet and use the digital economy as an important driving force to promote the openness, cooperation, exchange, and sharing in cyberspace and build a community of common future in cyberspace.”

The WIC is not only a platform where tech and internet companies from around the world can gather to have a dialog; the WIC has become the pulse for global internet regulations. There has been chatter around the globe for some time now regarding the new age of “digital economy” but so far there had mainly been only talk because events like the global financial crisis and the spread of anti-globalization sentiments had greatly dented the advancements in this realm. For this new age to kick start, it needs international cooperation and this year’s 4th WIC aims at promoting cooperation, which is why at the 4th WIC two Blue Papers; China Internet Development Report 2017 and World Internet Development Report 2017, will be released for the first time by this conference. With the revelation of these two blue prints the countries and participants take a peek into the comprehensive plans and trends of China’s Internet development. China’s Internet development is an important case study for all around the globe. As internet service provision is one measure, which is a good indicator but the most accurate measure is the actual number of internet users within a country, and China ranks highest in the world in this measure. The total number of internet users in China stands at 738,539,792. 

There are various forums this year at the WIC, like; Artificial Intelligence forum, the Global Digital Economy forum, Fintech forum and the forum for the Business Leaders Dialogue. At these forums new mechanisms for cooperation will also be devised and agreed upon which will incorporate Chinese wisdom into global Internet governance and provide a vision of future development. The conference will endorse a series of collaboration accords amongst Chinese and foreign governments, organizations and enterprises. 

The important thing to note is that Indeed China has come a long way, China’s growth thus far was achieved primarily due to the manufacturing model of economic growth but it was fast identified by President Xi that such a model is not sustainable and due to his vision to promote research and development (R&D) along with making the internet available for all has transformed China in to an economy which is generating the most innovations around the globe, every year China breaks the record at the World Intellectual Property Organization with the most patent applications. In the year 2016 the record was once again broken with the maximum number of Chinese applications standing at more than 3.4 million, which is an astronomical achievement in record time. The most remarkable thing about this fact is that, it was only a few years ago that Chinese manufacturing was frowned upon in the world and now due to the focus on R&D, Chinese inventions and technologies are a source of envy. 

China under the leadership of President Xi is on a path of creating a world of shared prosperity through interconnectedness and it is through the 4th WIC the countries will also witness the blue prints for the development of digital economy and its global governance for the Internet which will be a Chinese solution of building a community of common future in cyberspace.

（Dr. Shafei Moiz Hali studied at George Mason University, Virginia, USA and specialized in the field of International Commerce and Policy. He did his PhD from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China specializing in Chinese foreign policy focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative and energy issues. Currently Dr. Hali is working as an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Contemporary Studies, National Defence University (NDU) Islamabad, Pakistan.）