During the 2025 World Internet Conference (WIC) Digital Silk Road Development Forum in Quanzhou, Fujian province, experts from the WIC Think Tank Cooperation Program unveiled a series of research reports. These reports focused on key areas such as international digital economy cooperation, AI's role in advancing the Digital Silk Road, humanoid robots, and antitrust practices within the digital economy. Their strategic insights aim to support the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The China Telecom Research Institute Esurfing Think Tank unveiled a groundbreaking report titled "Digital Silk Road: A New Global Digital Economy Ecosystem Co-created and Shared by Platform Enterprises." The report conducts an in-depth analysis of four types of platform enterprises: cloud computing, e-commerce, fintech, and digital entertainment, summarizes and proposes four new development models and outlines a clear panoramic roadmap for platform enterprises on how to jointly build and share a new global digital economy ecosystem.

The China Mobile Research Institute (China Mobile Think Tank) released two reports: "Intelligent Silk Road Toward a Digital Future -- AI-Driven Digital Silk Road Enters a New Era of Development" and "Pool Strength for Collaborative AI Governance to Drive the Development of the Digital Silk Road." 

The first explores AI's role in empowering economic development and assesses the foundational AI capabilities—computing power, networks, models, and data—across Belt and Road countries. It proposes exploring development pathways through joint technology R&D, infrastructure, and policy alignment. 

The second report highlights the importance of building a governance consensus for the Digital Silk Road. It advocates for advancing co-governance mechanisms under the principle of "extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits" by deepening consensus, enhancing governance capacity, and promoting inclusive development.

Wei Chenguang, Vice President of China Mobile Research Institute (China Mobile Think Tank) [Photo/wicinternet.org]

The China Unicom Research Institute, in partnership with the China Branch of BRICS Institute of Future Networks, released a report titled "Applications and Development Prospects of Humanoid Robots." The report reviews global trends in humanoid robotics, industry structure, and market outlook. It includes in-depth analysis of real-world applications in manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, and home services, and proposes a development strategy focusing on three pillars: hardware foundations, technological integration, and scenario-based deployment.

The Institute of Cyberspace Governance at Wuhan University released a report titled "Practice and Prospects of Antitrust Law in the Global Digital Economy." This report provides a balanced assessment of current antitrust practices in the digital domain, clarifies the appropriate scope of regulation, and offers insights to strengthen routine oversight of the digital economy.

Huang Zhixiong, Dean of the Institute of Internet Governance, Wuhan University [Photo/wicinternet.org]

Launched during the 2024 Wuzhen Summit, the WIC Think Tank Cooperation Program brings together 60 think tanks from WIC member organizations and leading global institutions in the internet field. The program aims to build a global platform for academic exchange and dialogue through joint research, forums, publications, and collaborative initiatives, contributing expertise to the development of the internet industry and efforts to bridge the digital divide.