Conference told digital tech fuels recovery

Digital technologies are playing key roles in fueling economic recovery and fighting the pandemic in China, speakers told the World Internet Conference which opened on Monday in Wuzhen. 

In a congratulatory letter, President Xi Jinping said the Internet had played an important role in promoting economic recovery, thanks to the wide application of telemedicine, online education and remote working.

Digital technologies provided strong support for pandemic prevention and control, showing tremendous energy in the research and judgment of the situation, information sharing and epidemiological analysis, said Zhong Nanshan, a renowned doctor in the fight against the pandemic, at the conference.

The accelerated integration of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies, used in transport, medical care, education and scientific research, have promoted the transformation and upgrading of digital transformation of the whole society, said industry giants including Alibaba, Lenovo and Qualcomm.

Cybersecurity is the “cornerstone” of digital technologies, said Qi Xiangdong, chairman of Qi An Xin. Without network security, the role and influence of digital technology will be greatly reduced.

China’s network security industry revenue grew fourfold in the past six years, as government and enterprise clients spent more on cybersecurity, Qi added.

In the next five years, digital technologies will help China’s development to be stable and far-reaching, Shen Nanpeng, head of Sequoia Capital China, told the conference.