China will host a forum next month to promote its digital-economy growth model and facilitate the development of digital infrastructure in partner nations of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing’s plan to grow global trade.
The Digital Silk Road (DSR) Development Forum will open on April 16 in Xian, capital of western Shaanxi province, co-organised by the World Internet Conference (WIC) and the Shaanxi provincial government, WIC secretary general Ren Xianliang announced at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday. China launched the DSR initiative in 2015 as the technology arm of BRI, with the aim of boosting digital connectivity. WIC, which started as an annual forum, was turned into an “international organisation” in 2022 to further Beijing’s views on how the internet should be managed and developed
https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3256945/china-woo-belt-and-road-partners-digital-silk-road-forum-april-amid-increasingly-divided-cyberspace