An Internet‘Davos’

By+Wang+Hairong

Wuzhen Town of Zhejiang Province is a typical southern waterfront town with rows and rows of whitewalled houses reflected in the rivers running right through its center. The landscape is like a tranquil scene portrayed in traditional Chinese ink painting.

Located between Shanghai and Hangzhou， two of east Chinas most cosmopolitan cities， Wuzhen is said to have 7，000 years of civilized history， and has existed as a town for 1，300 years. Having been home to numerous celebrities since ancient times， it is rich in cultural relics and other tourist at- tractions. Today， the town has a population of 57，000.

However， on November 19， this ancient town gained a new and unlikely identity as the permanent venue of the proposed annual World Internet Conference （WIC）， the first of which was held there beginning on that date and ending November 21.

President Xi Jinping congratulated the opening of the conference. He said that the Internet has turned the world into a global community， yet on the other hand， “the development of the Internet has also posed new challenges to state sovereignty， safety and development interests，” and China is willing to join hands with various countries to build “a peaceful， secure， open and cooperative cyberspace and a multilateral， democratic and transparent Internet governance system.”

A grand gathering

The WIC， jointly sponsored by the Cyberspace Administration of the Peoples Republic of China and the Zhejiang Provincial Government， was said to be a groundbreaking event for both Wuzhen and Chinas Internet industry.

“It is the first international Internet event held in China， the first gathering that will draw participation from the global Internet elites. It is the first panoramic showcase of the achievements of the Chinese Internet trailblazers，” said Lu Wei， Minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China， at a press conference before the start of the WIC.

Lu has high expectations for the WIC. He said that it will become “an international event with a vision that will set the trend for the futures developments.”

“The WIC not only holds status as an international platform for global communication but also offers a channel for the sharing of resources and the development of the Internet. The WIC is a platform where the international community can exchange ideas， explore possibilities and reach a consensus，” he said.

Under the theme An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All， the first WIC consists of 13 forums on topics like Internet governance， mobile Internet， Internet security and cross-border e-commerce.

The summit attracted more than 1，000 people including state leaders， representatives from international organizations， business executives， industrial insiders and scholars from around 100 countries and regions.

Notable figures in the Internet industry who spoke at the conference included Fadi Chehad， President and CEO of The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers （better known as ICANN）， Jack Ma， lead founder of Alibaba Group and Zhejiang Province native； Pony Ma， core founder and CEO of Tencent； and Reid Hoffman， the co-founder of LinkedIn， among others.

Two-decade growth

Held on the 20th anniversary of Chinas connection to the World Wide Web， the WIC hopes to “showcase of the achievements of Chinese Internet trailblazers.”

In April， two decades ago， Hu Qiheng， then Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences， flew to the United States on a visit to the National Science Foundation， to whom he submitted Chinas request to access the Internet. On April 20 of that year， China was officially connected to the World Wide Web.

In 1996， Charles Zhang， then a fresh graduate of Stanford University， returned to Beijing to found the prototype of todays Sohu.com—the first Internet company sponsored by venture capital in China.

Now， China has 630 million Internet users， 1.2 billion cellphone users and 500 million microblogging and WeChat users who send a total of more than 20 billion messages every day， according to Lu.

Four of the top 10 Internet companies in the world are based in China， including Alibaba， Tencent， Baidu and JD.com.

After a successful debut on the New York Stock Exchange in September， Alibaba became the worlds second largest Internet company after Google Inc.

Alibaba is the worlds largest online retailer. In the third quarter of this year， the group recorded revenue of 16.8 billion yuan （$2.7 billion）， up 53.7 percent from a year ago.

In recent years， November 11， dubbed Singles Day or Double Eleven， has been celebrated with online shopping sprees. This November 11， Alibaba received a total order of 57.1 billion yuan （$9.2 billion）， up 58.6 percent from the previous year. Of all the orders， 42 percent were placed through cellphones.

“With the rapid popularization of smart terminals， lower service fees on telecommunication networks and increasingly complete coverage of Wi-Fi， Internet access via mobile phone has become the main impetus of the Internet development，” stated the Statistical Report on Internet Development in China released by the China Internet Network Information Center in January.

According to the report， as of the end of 2013， the country had 500 million Internet mobile users， and among all the Internet users， the proportion of those using mobile phones to access the Internet rose to 81 percent.

The surge forward into using technology has not only facilitated the spread of the Internet throughout China but also generated more new applications， reconstructed the business mode of traditional industries and resulted in the rapid growth of the Internet economy.

The report also unveiled that users using Internet applications for online searching， shopping， payment and ticket booking were rising， whereas users browsing blogs and playing games were declining.

At the first WIC， Shen Yang， a professor with Tsinghua University， said that， with Weibo， WeChat， and Baidu， the face of new media has more and more Chinese characteristics.

Cyberspace governance

The Internet has fundamentally changed the way people live and work. It has facilitated communication and information gathering. Yang Kun， a Chinese native living in the United States， found that the Internet has shortened the distance between him and friends in China. He joined several WeChat groups initiated by his former classmates and colleagues in China. Every day， they chat about everything and share news， photos and videos. Although group members live in different cities， they feel as close as ever.

Chen Xin， a professor of history in Zhejiang University， told Xinhua News Agency that for nearly 20 years， he has communicated with scholars at home and abroad through e-mails， which have tremendously improved his research efficiency.

However， cyberspace， just as the physical world， is not a utopia. The Internet can spread valuable information as well as harmful viruses and misinformation. It can also be used as a tool for swindlers， hackers and even terrorists.

“The Internet is a double-edged sword. Used wisely， it is Alibabas treasure trove； used unwisely， it is a Pandoras Box，” remarked Ma Kai， Chinese Vice Premier， at the WIC on November 19.

He said that network security is the common challenge facing human society， and effectively addressing these challenges is a common responsibility of governments. He called on countries to strengthen cooperation in cracking down on Internet crimes such as terrorist activities through the Internet， Internet attacks and intrusion of privacy to make the Internet safe.

Lu said that cyberspace in China is governed by Chinese laws. “What we do is in accordance with our laws， and all the moves we take are aimed at protecting our cybersecurity and users interests.

China is one of the countries worst hit by online threats， with more than 10，000 Chinese websites attacked every month， 80 percent of which are government sites， said Lu.

In the past， China and the United States have accused each other of launching Internet attacks. However， talks and communication relating to the Internet between the United States and China have gone smoothly recently， said Lu

He said that China would like to seek consensus with the United States on how the Internet should be governed.

At a WIC sub-forum held on November 20， participants discussed internet security and international cooperation.

Bing Xiaowu， Chairman of the Board of China Electronics Corp.， said that Internet security breaches occur frequently—in 2013 alone， more than 500 million pieces of identification information were leaked worldwide.

He said that threats to Internet security come from five sources： extremists， hackers， terrorists， economic criminals and national governments. These threats not only damage our properties but also hamper national development.

Bing said that， currently， not any single organization or company can cope with these challenges with traditional methods； we must transform our prevention and protection model， open resources and engage in cooperative innovation.

Huang Chengqing， Director of the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China， said that the domain names of more than half of the websites spreading malicious programs in China are registered overseas. Huang said that his organization has established partnership with 127 organizations in 59 countries to tackle Internet security threats.

Countering cyberterrorism

At a sub-forum on countering cyberterrorism with enhanced international cooperation held on November 20， Cheng Lin， President of the Chinese Peoples Public Security University， said that the Internet has become a new tool for terrorists.

He said that currently， terrorists not only can launch direct attacks on computers， networks and stored information but also can use the Internet to plot terrorist activities， transmit information， transfer funds， recruit followers and abet people to engage in terrorist activities by posting text， audio and video materials.

International cooperation in combating cyberterrorism is a pressing and arduous task， Cheng said. He said that currently， the fight against cyberterrorism is confronted with several difficulties such as the lack of a specified legal framework， effective technology and an international cooperation mechanism.

He suggested that measures should be taken to overcome these difficulties and strengthen international cooperation.

The fact that terrorists are using the Internet also helps law enforcers better learn about what they are up to， said Bruce McConnell， Senior Vice President of EastWest Institute and former deputy head of the Cybersecurity Department of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Their digital traces online offer clues to law enforcers to track them down， he said.

Terrorists can recruit new members online and teach people how to make bombs， and we can also teach people how to guard against terrorism through the Internet， McConnell said.

He said that some criminals recently have been found to interact with terrorists， which complicates matters， so there is a lot of room for international cooperation in this area. He said that both the public and private sectors in different countries should work together to combat terrorism.