A ministerial-level meeting will be held during the upcoming World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit in Hong Kong in a first for the annual event, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said on Tuesday.

The inclusion brings an added dimension to the holding of the event by the SAR on April 13-14, only the second time it has played host.

The first time it did so, 2025, some 1,000 political and business elites as well as academics from over 50 countries and regions attended an event that had almost exclusively been held in Wuzhen, Hangzhou, over the past decade.

At a press conference in Beijing, Sun said there will be several other upgrades to this year’s event besides the ministerial-level meeting.

The meeting, he added, would bring together domestic and international officials to discuss how innovation and technology drive economic development and international co-operation promotes the prosperity of the digital economy.

The number of sub-forums on the second day of the summit will also double to six, covering the latest technology and industry trends, such as artificial intelligence agent applications, digital finance and AI security governance, Sun said.

Renowned leaders in the field have also been invited to share their contributions in promoting global internet development.

Sun stressed that the move to continue staging the summit in Hong Kong also showed the national strategic direction was veering towards building an international science and technology centre in the Greater Bay Area.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden