Forum on the Digitalization and Dissemination of Classical Texts held at WIC Asia-Pacific Summit

The Forum on the Digitalization and Dissemination of Classical Texts was held in Hong Kong on April 14 during the 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Asia-Pacific Summit.

The forum’s theme was From “Hidden in Archives” to “At Your Fingertips”: Preservation of Classical Texts and Mutual Learning among Civilizations in the Digital Age. It gathered nearly 100 participants from government bodies, international organizations, corporations, universities, and research institutions worldwide.

Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the WIC, Iskakov Kanat, first vice minister of Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Ding Wei, deputy general manager of the Bauhinia Culture Holdings Limited attended and addressed the forum. 

Keynote speakers included Wei Chong, deputy director of the National Library of China; Gene Tan, chief librarian and deputy chief executive officer (Strategy & Experiences), National Library & Archives Board, Singapore; Fu Weizhong, chairman of Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Limited and Duan Zhiyun, general manager of Topnod, Ant Group.

Other speakers included Simon Mahony, emeritus professor of Digital Humanities in the Department of Information Studies at University College London, United Kingdom; Eleni Avramidou, executive director of the Hellenic Sinology Center at the Ionian University and member of the Steering Committee of the UNESCO Chair on Threats to Cultural Heritage and Cultural Heritage related Activities; and Hong Tao, assistant to the general manager of the Zhonghua Book Company.

They shared cutting-edge practices in classical text digitalization and explored challenges and opportunities for preservation and transmission in the digital intelligence era. Xia Cuijuan, a professor from the Department of Digital Humanities, School of Information Resource Management at Renmin University of China released the report The Digital and Intelligent Evolution and Future Trends of Chinese Ancient Books: A Global Perspective at the forum, which was compiled by the Research Center for Digital Humanities of Renmin University of China.

The forum was hosted by the World Internet Conference Specialized Committee on Cultural Heritage Digitalization and co-organized by Topnod Tech Shanghai Co., Ltd., Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Limited, the Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation Association of China, Zhonghua Book Company, and the China Cultural Industry Association.