Wuzhen chosen as permanent venue for WIC

Wuzhen, a picturesque riverine town south of the Yangtze River. (People's Daily Online/ Gao Yinan)

Jointly sponsored by the Cyberspace Administration of the People's Republic of China and the Zhejiang provincial government, the World Internet Conference will make its grand debut in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang province.

As the world's largest developing country, China has the largest number of Internet users and potentially qualifies as a competitive candidate to build a broadly representative and truly open platform for a new round of dynamic growth of the global Internet industry.

The Wuzhen WIC is the first international Internet event held in China, the first gathering that draws participation from the world's elitist leaders in the Internet realm, the first panoramic showcase of the achievements of the Chinese Internet trailblazers and the first world-level cyberspace summit meeting that is named after an ancient town.

"WIC is not only an international platform for the communication between China and the rest of the world, but also offers a brilliant channel for China to integrate into the world sources for more in-depth sharing and mutual development of Internet. WIC is a platform where the world Internet tycoons exchange ideas, explore possibilities and reach consensus," said Lu Wei, minister of Cyberspace Administration of China.

"The honor comes from the central government's trust in Zhejiang and reflects the respect for the province's strong competitiveness from the global Internet industry," said Li Qiang, governor of Zhejiang province. "We shall grasp the opportunity to make Wuzhen a new incubator for the pioneering of the country's information industry."

Under the theme "An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All", the first WIC is composed of 13 forums on current topics of interest regarding Internet management, mobile Internet, Internet safety, and a special session about the role Zhejiang plays in the Internet scene of China.