Press conference held for 2026 WIC Digital Silk Road Development Forum

A press conference for the 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Digital Silk Road Development Forum was held in Beijing on July 6, unveiling the forum's overall arrangements, latest preparations and key highlights.

Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the WIC, Sun Daguang, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Shaanxi Provincial Committee, and Zhang Fenghu, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Xi'an Municipal Committee and head of the Cyberspace Administration of Xi'an, attended the press conference and answered questions from the media. Liang Hao, executive deputy secretary-general of the WIC, chaired the event.

Hosted by the WIC and organized by the Shaanxi provincial government, the 2026 WIC Digital Silk Road Development Forum will be held in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, from July 21 to 22.

Under the theme "Pooling Intelligence on the Silk Road, Embarking on a Digital Future — Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," the forum will feature an opening ceremony and thematic forums covering Silk Road E-commerce Cooperation and Development, Collaborative Innovation and Development of AI Agents, Cultural Heritage Preservation and Transmission in the Digital Intelligence Era, Digital and Intelligent Health, among other topics. The event aims to help Belt and Road partner countries strengthen consensus, deepen cooperation and seize new opportunities brought by digital and intelligent development.

Ren said that from Xi'an to Quanzhou, Fujian province, the WIC has successfully held the Digital Silk Road Development Forum for two consecutive years. By bringing the forum back to Xi'an this year, the WIC will build on previous outcomes and further harness digital intelligence technologies to strengthen infrastructure connectivity, enhance rules and standards connectivity, and deepen people-to-people connectivity among Belt and Road partner countries, breathing new vitality into the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefit in the digital era.

Sun said that since the inaugural Digital Silk Road Development Forum was held in Shaanxi, the province has continued to strengthen policy guidance, upgrade its digital infrastructure, deepen technological innovation, promote inclusive digital development, and expand digital trade exchanges. These efforts have advanced the development of the Digital Silk Road and injected strong digital momentum into high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. Looking ahead, Shaanxi will further advance digital innovation with greater efforts, expand opening-up and cooperation through more concrete measures, and contribute more of Shaanxi’s strengthen to building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

Zhang said Xi’an, as a key hub city of the Belt and Road Initiative, will take the forum as an opportunity to further fulfill its role as an important Silk Road gateway by strengthening the city's digital infrastructure, accelerating the large-scale application of digital technologies, enhancing collaborative innovation capabilities, deepening integration of industry, academia and research, and fostering a new ecosystem for Digital Silk Road cooperation.

The forum will bring together high-level representatives from international organizations, governments, leading enterprises and industry institutions and academia. Confirmed participants include ministerial-level officials from Cambodia, Algeria, Zambia, Cuba and Nicaragua; ambassadors to China from Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia; representatives from international organizations including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International AI Governance Association (IAGA) and the Global IPv6 Forum, and senior representatives of WIC members, including Qualcomm, 360, Lenovo, ZTE, Sugon, Waterdrop, Keeson Technology and Penghua Fund.

The forum will also feature a ministerial meeting and other high-level dialogue events. The WIC Digital & AI Academy will organize a capacity-building program and study tour under the theme "AI-Driven Digital Trade."

In addition, the academy, together with the China Office of the WIPO, will host a themed salon titled "Copyright Empowerment in Cultural Heritage Digitalization" themed salon, providing practical experience and reference for Belt and Road partner countries in promoting digital trade and the digital preservation of cultural heritage.