The main forum of the 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Asia-Pacific Summit was held in Hong Kong on April 13, alongside the Distinguished Contributors Gala.

Wang Jingtao, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, and Francis Gurry, vice-chair of the WIC and former director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, addressed the event, while Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the WIC, was also in attendance.

Wang noted that the global wave of intelligent transformation was surging, with AI innovations emerging on a broad front. He called for building consensus and deepening cooperation to explore how digital technologies could better benefit humanity.

He urged upholding openness and cooperation to expand the growth of the digital economy through bilateral and multilateral dialogues and cross-border collaboration in tech innovation. He also stressed inclusiveness — calling for bridging digital and AI divides via cross-border digital infrastructure build-outs to ensure that technology serves humanity. 

On governance, he advocated genuine multilateralism that rejects tech hegemony and zero-sum games to build a global internet governance order that is more just and equitable. 

He also called for joint efforts to combat cybercrimes and terrorism, strengthen data protection and privacy, and to enhance dialogues and cooperation on cybersecurity concepts to build a more peaceful and secure cyberspace.

For his part, Gurry said digital and AI empowerment means enabling individuals, businesses, and institutions to adapt to the evolving digital environment, seize opportunities in social and economic development and share in the benefits of development. All stakeholders bear important responsibilities in this process, he noted.

The Distinguished Contributors Gala was designed to pay tribute to those driving the advancement of digital and intelligent technologies, Gurry said, adding that they have shown not only exceptional technological capability but also a deep commitment to the societal impact of technological transformation.

Paul Chan Mo-po, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and Sun Dong, Hong Kong’ secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, attended and addressed the event. Other distinguished speakers included Wu Jianping, Nii Narku Quaynor and Kilnam Chon.

Wu Jianping is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee , an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, director of the Zhongguancun Laboratory, and a chair professor at Tsinghua University.

Nii Narku Quaynor, chairman of Ghana Dot Com, and Kilnam Chon, professor emeritus at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, are both recipients of the 2024 WIC Outstanding Contribution Award. 

Wu Dong, chief engineer of the Cyberspace Administration of China, was among the attendees.

The event featured keynote speeches, roundtable discussions and presentations across four themed chapters: “Honoring Global Connectors”, “Honoring Tech Innovators”, “Honoring Digital Intelligence Trailblazers — Hong Kong Dialogue”, and “Honoring Tech-for-Good Pioneers”. 

Prominent individuals and representatives of enterprises that have made outstanding contributions to the development of the global internet sector shared their practices and insights on building a community with a shared future in cyberspace and discussed future trends and opportunities in AI development. 

A global call for submissions was launched at the event for the 2026 WIC Awards for Pioneering Science and Technology as well as for this year’s Practice Cases of Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace.

A launch ceremony was also held for the 2026 WIC Outstanding Contribution Award.