Chen Siqi

vankochensq@163.com

AROUND 300 officials and representatives gathered at the 2023 BRICS Forum on Future Networks Innovation held at the Wuzhou Guest House in Futian District yesterday.

The two-day forum, themed “Networks Innovation for High-quality Development,” was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Shenzhen Municipal Government. It featured an opening ceremony, a main forum and five subforums, bringing together industry insiders, governmental leaders and scholars from more than 10 countries, including BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — and the countries interested in potential collaborations with BRICS.

The forum served as a platform for participants to share their insights and explore further cooperation in various fields, including digital transformation, next-generation mobile communication, artificial intelligence, industrial internet and blockchain.

The Chinese Government has been actively promoting the development of its cyberpower, achieving a significant improvement in network infrastructure. The country has built the world’s largest and most advanced mobile broadband and fiber optic networks.

China has also made remarkable progress in technological innovation, with mobile communication technology transitioning from catching up to leading the industry’s development. The country’s convergent applications are thriving, particularly in the realm of industrial internet, which spans research and development, design, production, manufacturing and operational management.

Zhang Yunming, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated that China is willing to deepen cooperation in the field of information communication with BRICS nations and countries participating in the “BRICS Plus” mechanism. The goal is to ensure that the benefits of this cooperation extend to a wider population across these countries.

Zhang urged the partners to drive the construction of internet facilities, expedite the development of the tech industry, enhance industry applications and foster deeper strategic partnerships.

Since its inception in 2019, the BRICS Forum on Future Networks Innovation has strengthened cooperation in information communication among BRICS countries.