On the morning of December 18, the Cyberspace Governance Forum of the 2nd World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit was held in Hua Mei Conference Hall. As the only forum dedicated to cyberspace governance, the Forum aimed to build a bridge of dialogue between China and the world, and bring together cyberspace governance experts from home and abroad to share the best practices in different countries and communities and discuss how to build up an inclusive international cyberspace governance system based on mutual trust. 

A gathering of heavyweights 

The Forum brought together a number of distinguished guests including Wang Xiujun, Deputy Director of the State Internet Information Office, Chen Zhaoxiong, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Zhao Houlin, Secretary-General of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Fadi Chehade, President & CEO of ICANN, Howard Michel, IEEE President, George Sadowsky, Internet Hall of Fame Inductee, Paul Wilson, President of APNIC, Qian Hualin, Internet Hall of Fame Inductee, and Gao Xinmin, Vice President of the Internet Society of China. The guests discussed the different roles of different communities in the internet governance system, and shared their understanding and opinions about cyberspace governance. 

Li Xiaodong, Director and Research fellow of CNNIC, served as the Chinese moderator of the Forum, while Kuek Yu-Chuang, ICANN Vice President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific Hub, and Danil Kerimi, Head of Digital Economy and Technology Policy of WEF, served as foreign moderators. 

Cyberspace governance is a great concern in the international community, and the governance concepts conveyed by President Xi Jinping at the WIC has sparked heated discussions. At the Forum, two ministerial leaders from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Internet Information Office explained China’s governance attitudes and proposed recommendations. The moderators and panelists from home and abroad also quoted President Xi’s words when sharing their opinions about governance and global cyberspace governance. 

The guests also discussed IANA stewardship transition, a hot topic in the field of internet governance, explained its great significance and far-reaching influence on cyberspace governance, and made high-end dialogues on hot topics such as the changes and challenges in cyberspace governance, dialectical unity of cyberspace governance modes, and cyberspace development strategy from a global perspective. 

“We must work together to let the society enjoy the benefits brought by technology. We need to build a policy bridge between technology and society. Communication with the technology community should be a consensus in the process of policy making ”, said Howard Michel, IEEE President, whose speech represented the views of the technology community. 

Fadi Chehadé, President & CEO of ICANN, emphasized the need of mutual understanding and cooperation between international organizations, saying that ICANN expected to realize “one world, one network” through communication and understanding and the Wuzhen Summit was a great platform for all sides to cooperate, communicate, and understand the differences. 

The Forum invited leaders and experts from a wide range of sectors such as government departments, international organizations, civil organizations, the academic circle and the business community, with a view to bringing together cyberspace governance experts in different communities, countries and regions to share the theoretical achievements, practices and experiences in internet governance from multiple perspectives and discuss how to build up a cyberspace governance system with incisiveness and mutual trust. 

The Cyberspace Governance Forum was hosted by CNNIC. For years, CNNIC has established extensive partnership with international communities and think tanks in such fields as basic internet resource management and global internet governance research. A number of CNNIC’s experts have taken important posts in international internet organizations. In the future, CNNIC will further capitalize on domestic and international resources to advance exchanges on internet governance practices and research, and work together with all sides to build up an inclusive, open and collaborative environment based on mutual trust.