On July 22, the Digital Silk Road Development Forum of the 2026 World Internet Conference was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi. The forum, with the theme of "Smart Silk Road: Embarking on a New Journey Together - Building a Community of Shared Future in Cyberspace", gathered about 800 guests from various fields of government, industry, academia, and research around the world to discuss strategies for innovative development of digital intelligence technology, ways to interconnect digital infrastructure, and build a path of digital civilization exchange and mutual learning.

At the forum, guests from all walks of life expressed that building the Digital Silk Road is an inevitable choice and a responsibility of the times to work together to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace. Countries should strengthen cooperation and exchanges, so that the Silk Road spirit of "peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit" can shine and sublimate in the digital, networked and intelligent era.

Seize opportunities and share the benefits of digital intelligence

In ancient times, the Silk Road connected the trade between the East and the West. Nowadays, a complex intelligent system is taking on the same responsibility.

After attending the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, John Higgins, President of the International Association for Artificial Intelligence Governance, came to Xi'an. At the opening ceremony of this forum, he stated that practitioners in the global network field should fully protect the digital Silk Road as a link of interconnectivity, enhance mutual respect, cultivate common values, and make it benefit the whole world.

The Digital Silk Road is not only the interconnection of technological infrastructure, but also the interconnection of innovative ecosystems. Wang Binying, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, said that the coordination of intellectual property data, literature, and information system standards will be promoted through mechanisms such as the World Intellectual Property Organization Standards Committee, making intellectual property the anchor of trust, bridge of innovation, and boat of prosperity on the Digital Silk Road.

Currently, new generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing are accelerating their evolution, profoundly changing the way healthcare services are provided, the form of industrial development, and the global health governance model. Francis Gao Rui, Vice President of the World Internet Conference, said that at the moment when AI (Artificial Intelligence) is comprehensively reshaping medical innovation, the key to breaking the global health digital divide and achieving medical equity is no longer the traditional international norms, but the international cooperation relying on open source models, open data sets and infrastructure.

Only by working together globally can we accelerate technological innovation and enable the world's technological civilization to move towards the next stage together, "said Wang Xingxing, founder of Yushu Technology. The Digital Silk Road brings opportunities of the times, and we are willing to work with partners from all countries to promote cooperation through openness and connect people's hearts through digital means, making intelligent robots friendly terminals for building a community of shared future in cyberspace.

Digital Empowerment, Protecting the Roots of Civilization Together

The tide of numbers surges, and civilization is constantly evolving. As a new type of international organization in the digital field, the World Internet Conference has always regarded promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations as an important mission.

Technology should help every culture find its place and voice, "said Mira Arevich Marin, the Cuban Minister of Communications. Artificial intelligence and digital tools should become partners in disseminating art, history, culture, and language from various countries. In the era of digital intelligence, protecting cultural heritage requires strengthening international cooperation, respecting cultural diversity, and making technology serve humanity.

In recent years, Shaanxi History Museum has relied on its rich collection of cultural relics resources, effectively utilized digital technology, and innovated exhibition and display methods. Pang Yani, the director of Shaanxi History Museum, said that digital technology is reshaping the form of cultural heritage protection and utilization in museum collections, and transforming museum workers from cultural custodians to cultural experience creators and knowledge disseminators. We are willing to strengthen cooperation with all parties and tell the story of China well in cultural inheritance and innovation.

Professor Mohammad Nasim Khan from the Institute of World Art History at Shanghai International Studies University stated that the digitization of cultural heritage is not a simple digital project, but a strategic investment aimed at protecting cultural heritage, enhancing its accessibility, promoting knowledge transfer and sustainable development, thereby ensuring that fragile cultural heritage has a sustainable future.

At the forum, many guests mentioned that many popular TV dramas cleverly integrate Eastern aesthetics, intangible cultural heritage, and other elements into the ups and downs of the plot, allowing global audiences to appreciate the charm of Chinese culture. However, once film and television works are released, they are easily pirated and infringed upon. In response, Diao Yunyun, Vice President of Legal Affairs at Tencent Group, said that in recent years, copyright infringement and piracy have shown the characteristic of "broadcasting is piracy", and copyright protection requires comprehensive protection from administrative agencies, judicial agencies, and the general public.

Mutual benefit and cooperation, jointly guarding the bottom line of security

E-commerce is like a "camel team" in the new era, which will closely link the market, enterprises and consumers of the "the Belt and Road" countries.

The Digital Silk Road will significantly promote the popularization of artificial intelligence technology and enhance the development momentum of e-commerce, "said Nahima Diaz, Director of the National Telecommunications and Postal Administration of Nicaragua. In order to narrow the technological gap and promote shared prosperity, it is necessary to continuously strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure, invest in talent training, and build a reliable digital environment to facilitate electronic transactions and support the sustainable development of the digital economy.

There is ample room for integration between the Digital Silk Road and a unified and trustworthy African market, "said Latina Cohen, Director General and CEO of the Smart African Union. A smart market is built on trust as its underlying architecture. The future digital Silk Road is not a one-way innovation flow, but a two-way co creation interaction, allowing goods, information, and culture to flow in unprecedented ways.

In recent years, Renmin University of China has launched a large-scale model intelligent agent for foreign-related rule of law to help solve the problem of digital Silk Road enterprises going global. In response to the risks of data collection expansion and infringement brought about by the rapid development of intelligent agents, Yang Dong, Dean of the School of Law and the School of Foreign Rule of Law at Renmin University of China, stated that a closed-loop regulatory system should be established throughout the entire lifecycle to clarify the boundaries of rights and responsibilities among platforms, users, and other parties. At the same time, strengthen technical prevention, enhance the ability of identity recognition, operation authorization, and compliance verification.

The greater the autonomous authority possessed by intelligent agents, the clearer their authority boundaries should be, and the stronger the supervision mechanism must be. "Hassohon, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Communications of Cambodia, said that intelligent agents should be able to enhance human capabilities, and responsible governance is not an obstacle to innovation, but an innovation foundation for winning public trust and creating lasting value. (Outlook New Era)