A ministerial forum themed "Bridging the Digital Divide" was held in east China's river town of Wuzhen in Zhejiang Province on November 8, serving as a subforum of the Fifth World Internet Conference.

Officials from 14 countries and regions held discussions with heads of international organizations such as the European Union and world-renowned experts.

They analyzed the phenomenon and problems of the imbalance in global network infrastructure and technology development levels, discussed the role of all sectors at home and abroad in promoting pragmatic exchanges and cooperation, providing solutions for narrowing the digital divide between different countries, regions and populations, and working together to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace. Following are excerpts of their views on bridging the digital divide.

Promoting connectivity

Zhuang Rongwen (Minister of Cyberspace Administration of China): The Internet has profoundly changed people's work and life, and has promoted social and economic development, which should benefit everyone. Countries should further their cooperation in accelerating the popularization of the Internet and promoting connectivity, so as to jointly push forward the construction of the global Internet infrastructure and narrow the digital gap between countries, regions and groups of people. The Internet should be widely used in poverty reduction and coordinated development. E-commerce expansion in rural areas will bring tangible benefits to these areas so that people can lead rich and happy lives.

Liu Yuzhu (Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage): To bridge the divide, the Internet's way of thinking should be adopted, which requires an interconnection of ideas, resources, information, mechanisms and industries. It is necessary to give new life to cultural relics and let cultural heritage promote idea exchanges, dialogue and communication among civilizations.

Wu Zhaohui (President of Zhejiang University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences): The world is currently witnessing unprecedented breakthroughs in science and technology. Information technologies like the Internet, cloud computing and big data are profoundly transforming people's ideas, work, life and education. Predictably, in the future, the physical world will further get intertwined with the virtual world and they will get along well. Informatization is making education more convenient and inclusive, making the construction of a new space for running schools through informatization key to expanding the coverage of high-quality educational resources and bridging the gap in higher education.

Qu Sixi (Representative of the World Food Program China Office): The development of the Internet has boosted the flow of information between urban and rural areas, as well as between rich and poor regions. It has made it possible for poverty-alleviation efforts and projects to find aid-oriented resources, thus narrowing the digital divide between the rich and poor. The Internet is playing an increasingly important role in China's economic and social development.

It has greatly changed rural areas, connecting some remote areas to the outside world. The flow of information and traffic has boosted the flow of materials. Internet policies provide guidance to digitalization and e-commerce development in rural areas, as Chinese enterprises participate more in the development of rural areas through the Internet.

Garba Shehu (Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in Nigeria): As one of the fastest-growing telecommunications markets in the world, Nigeria had 161 million active mobile phone users in September. We are taking concrete steps to reduce the digital divide. Chinese companies like Huawei have played an important role in helping our push toward digital inclusion.

More efforts required

Zhang Fuhai (Head of the Publicity Department of Liaoning Provincial Communist Party of China Committee and Director of the Liaoning Provincial Office of Cyberspace Affairs Commission): Standing at the forefront of Internet development, we should accelerate the construction of a new generation of high-speed, mobile, secure and ubiquitous information infrastructure, promote the application of next-generation information technology, foster new industrial development, and release technology, institutional and innovation dividends. We should enhance governance and promote economic transformation and development.

Zhou Shuchun (Publisher and Editor in Chief of China Daily): The digital divide should be bridged in the process of maintaining and deepening economic globalization, while the formation of a global digital market should be promoted to give the digital economy new momentum in the latest stage of economic globalization.

In addition, the digital divide should be bridged to promote the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative to let the Digital Silk Road become a road that will benefit the people of all countries.

Gao Tongqing (Executive Vice President of China Telecom Corporation Limited): The Internet has bloomed in China. We already have the information superhighway, so while increasing the traffic, we should also enrich the content of the traffic so that the Internet will enrich users' lives and help with their work. Informatization will not only help to bridge the digital divide, but also eliminate the gaps in economic development and culture in different areas.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn (Chairman of the Kuhn Foundation): China has a unique position as both a fully developed country and a partially undeveloped country, or developing country, with great experience in how to deal with the digital divide since it has an enormous digital divide within its country. It is the responsibility of China and developed countries to help those countries facing difficulties to bring them all online because it serves as an equalizer among the peoples of the world. If you look into equalizing the world by building schools, factories and roads, that will take many decades, but through the Internet and through wireless connectivity, you can leapfrog and in a few years bring people to a very high level. We all have a responsibility to help countries to get people online as soon as possible.

The theme this year focusing on the digital divide is very important because it is one of the most critical problems in the world. We have opportunities to solve this divide. But if things continue and we have a solidification of haves and have-nots, we will cause more instability in the world. Everybody wants stability and prosperity, which is good for business and economic development. To achieve it, for the safety of developed countries, the United States and China, we have to work toward bridging and making that digital divide a lot smaller.

Viviane Reding (former member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg): I have spoken with many Chinese entrepreneurs in the last few days and have been really thrilled to hear their ideas, especially since they have the strength to take risks and put their ideas into practice. I think we have a lot to learn from your entrepreneurs. And I would really like it if in the future we can share our experiences, including the positive and negative ones, since we can learn from both. We can solve the problems we face, and if we join force, they can be solved very quickly.

Gabriel Lim (Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore): The more we use digital technologies, the more we should make sure that every citizen has the knowledge and skills to seize the opportunities provided by them.

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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