CRI听力:Xi calls for closer international cooperation in cyberspace

Chinese President Xi Jinping has helped open the Wuzhen conference this Wednesday with a call for better international cooperation on issues connected to the internet.

He made the address via a video recording delivered to the event.

"The Internet is the most vibrant sector in our times. Its rapid development has brought profound changes to our life and work, as well as new opportunities and challenges to human society. The development of the Internet knows no national or sectorial boundaries. The sound use, development and governance of the Internet thus calls for closer international cooperation and joint efforts to build a community of common future in cyberspace."

This year's World Internet Conference has been launched with a focus on international cooperation.

To that end, Xi Jinping says China will strengthen cooperation with other countries and international organizations connected to the internet.

Xi Jinping put forward a number of proposals on the governance of the Internet during last year's World Internet Conference.

Those have included maintaining cyber security and promoting its orderly development, as well as enhancing equity and justice online.

Fadi Chehade, a special advisor with World Economic Forum, says Xi Jinping's latest speech and highlights the importance of better management of the internet.

"We innovate not just in products but also innovate on governance. The internet makes us it transcends who we are as individual people and as individual countries, but it also makes us a global people and global community. In the internet if someone does something bad, anywhere in the world, it affects everybody else. So we cannot see the internet as a divided space, it's one space. So the only way to proceed is with common goods with everyone and China's emphasis on that is very good."

There are an estimated 710 million Internet users in China, which is roughly 52 percent of the population.

This is around 3-percent higher than the global average.

With the rapid growth of the Internet in China, problems are inevitable, particularly with security.

Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Chinese computer giant Lenovo, says addressing security issues is something his company is working on.
 
"The internet has entered into a new era where more smart terminals are coming out. Based on big data and artificial intelligence, the terminals will become ever smarter and more intelligent. The popularity of cloud computing also helps accelerate this. This is why stronger internet principles and security are needed. Many users in China are already encountering problems in this regard. I think we have to solve this."

The three-day event World Internet Conference is covering various Internet-related topics, such as Internet economics, innovation, culture, regulations and collaboration.