Policy Statement at the Sixth World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum (WTPF)

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Your Excellency Ministers,

Distinguished Secretary General ZHAO Houlin,

Dear delegates,

Good morning, afternoon and evening.

First of all, I’d like to congratulate the successful convening of the Forum and thank the Secretariat and the Expert Group for what they have done to make this happen.

It is imperative for countries to strengthen policy exchanges in emerging technologies and jointly promote the development of ICTs so as to achieve the UN SDGs. I’d also like to take this opportunity to share some of our perspectives.

First, to pursue common development and narrow digital divide. China has always adhered to a people-centered development philosophy and has focused the efforts on addressing the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development. We have also achieved positive results in this field. Today, the “same network and same speed” is realized in rural and urban areas, SMEs and the poor can enjoy more preferential tariffs for telecom services, and the threshold for the elderly, the disabled and other vulnerable groups to use new technologies and applications has been further reduced. We are willing to strengthen policy exchange and project cooperation with all parties in the fields of universal telecommunications services and digital inclusion and share our best practices and development experiences so that more people can access the dividends from the development of digital economy.

Second, to pursue technological innovations and enhance the driving forces for global digital economy. China attaches great importance to the development of 5G, AI and other emerging technologies, and actively supports enterprises and industrial organizations to innovate on application models, enrich application scenarios and improve application ecosystems in a bid to empower economic and social transformation and upgrading. We believe that research institutions, industry, and academia should continue to strengthen standards research and development as well as industrial cooperation in the fields of 5G and other emerging technologies, and jointly promote transformative breakthroughs in emerging technologies, so that technology can better serve the post-COVID economic recovery and sustainable development of mankind.

Third, to pursue mutual benefits and win-win cooperation, and make joint efforts to promote global digital governance. Issues such as cybersecurity, personal information protection and cross-border data flow are common challenges faced by countries, and there is still huge room for cooperation in global digital governance. China always takes an open and cooperative attitude and is willing to strengthen cooperation with other countries in this field. We support the ITU to play a great role and also encourage all parties to use the ITU platform to strengthen policy exchange and dialogue, further build consensus and promote the healthy, coordinated and orderly development of the global ICT sector.

China will run for the ITU Council membership at the PP-22 and has recommended Mr. Cheng Jianjun as a candidate for the Radio Regulations Board. We hope that we can receive the support from member states.

Finally, I hope the Forum can produce constructive results and achieve a complete success.

Thank you.

在第六届世界电信/信息通信技术政策论坛

上的政策性发言

（2021年12月16日，约3分钟）

谢谢主席女士，尊敬的各位部长、赵厚麟秘书长，各位代表，上午、下午、晚上好!

首先谨对本次论坛的顺利召开表示祝贺，对秘书处和专家组为此所做的工作表示感谢。

各国加强新兴技术领域政策交流，共同推动信息通信技术发展，对于实现联合国可持续发展目标具有重要意义。我也想借此机会，向各位代表分享一下我们的观点。

一是坚持共同发展，缩小数字鸿沟。中国始终坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，着力解决发展不平衡不充分问题，取得了积极成效。目前中国农村和城市已经实现了“同网同速”，中小企业、贫困人口可享受更加优惠的电信资费，老年人、残疾人等群体使用新技术新应用的门槛进一步降低。我们愿与各方加强在电信普遍服务、数字普惠发展方面的政策沟通与项目合作，分享最佳实践和发展经验，让更多人享受到数字经济发展红利。

二是坚持技术创新，增强全球数字经济发展动力。中国高度重视5G、人工智能等新兴技术发展，积极支持企业、产业组织创新应用模式、丰富应用场景、完善应用生态，赋能经济社会转型升级。我们认为各国研究机构、产业界、学术机构应继续加强5G等新兴技术领域的标准研发与产业合作，共同推动实现新兴技术的变革性突破，使技术更好服务于疫后经济复苏，服务于全人类的可持续发展。

三是坚持互利共赢，合力推动全球数字治理工作。网络安全、个人信息保护、数据跨境流动等问题是各国面临的共同挑战，全球数字治理仍存在巨大合作空间。中国始终秉持开放合作的态度，愿与各国加强合作。我们支持国际电联发挥更大作用，也鼓励各方利用国际电联平台加强政策交流与对话，进一步凝聚共识，推动全球信息通信业健康协调有序发展。

中国将在2022年全权代表大会上竞选2023-2026年理事国，推荐程建军先生竞选无线电规则委员会委员，希望得到各成员国支持。

最后，预祝本次论坛能够形成建设性成果，取得圆满成功。

谢谢大家。