New Year Greetings from World Internet Conference

Distinguished Council members, members of the World Internet Conference (WIC), and all like-minded partners seeking common development：

Happy New Year!

The year 2022 has been a milestone in the development of the WIC. On the basis of successfully holding the Wuzhen Summit for eight consecutive years and through the joint efforts of all parties, the WIC has realized a great evolution from an international conference to an international organization. Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated the establishment of the WIC as an international organization and expressed hope that the WIC will chart its course from a high starting point, pursue high-quality development, make progress to a high standard, encourage extensive consultation through dialogue and exchanges, promote the sharing of benefits through practical cooperation, and contribute wisdom and strength to global internet development and governance. This has provided fundamental guidance and a powerful impetus for the WIC to write a new chapter on a new journey to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace.

The inaugural ceremony of the World Internet Conference is held in Beijing, on July 12, 2022.

From November 9 to 11, the 2022 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit was successfully held as the first annual meeting of the international organization, which saw a record-high participation, both virtual and in-person, of more than 2,100 attendees from over 120 countries and regions. In a congratulatory letter to the Wuzhen Summit, President Xi stressed that China is willing to work with the international community to blaze a global digital development path that features the joint contribution and sharing of digital resources, a vibrant digital economy, well-targeted and efficient digital governance, a thriving digital culture, better digital security, and win-win digital cooperation, which elicited a positive international response. Old and new friends in the global internet field were brought together once again to discuss the development trend of cyberspace, showcase the innovative achievements of information technology, and explore approaches of open cooperation in cyberspace, vividly interpreting the value and significance of a global governance vision that features extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.

Looking back at 2022, the international situation faced severe challenges and complexities. The COVID-19 pandemic kept resurging. With the full support of the Council, all members and partners, despite all the challenges and difficulties, the WIC has successfully held a series of important international conferences and events and ensured the smooth implementation of all work. As the Chair of the WIC, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our Council members for their hard work and great contribution, and my heartfelt gratitude to the whole WIC family and people from all parties for their active support and involvement in the work of the WIC.

The 2022 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit is held from Nov 9 to 11, in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province.

Looking forward to 2023, the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit will celebrate its 10th birthday. The WIC plans to hold a series of new activities to deepen dialogue, exchanges and practical cooperation with all parties in the global internet field, aiming to jointly build a fairer, more equitable, open, inclusive, secure, stable, and vibrant cyberspace, so that the internet can deliver more benefits to people around the world. I believe that through our joint efforts, 2023 will become a more glorious year for global internet development, a year for the WIC to stride forward on the international stage and make greater contributions to global internet governance, and a year for everyone in the internet community to work hard and build a brilliant future together!

Happy New Year!

Zhuang Rongwen, Chair of the World Internet Conference