2026 World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit Highlights Digital Innovation

The 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Asia-Pacific Summit concluded on April 14, 2026, in Hong Kong. The two-day event focused on the theme Digital and Intelligent Empowerment for Innovative Development – Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace, bringing together approximately 1,000 participants from over 50 countries and regions.

Attendees included ministerial-level government officials, senior representatives from international organizations, diplomatic envoys to China, leaders of prominent internet enterprises and various scholars and experts.

AI and Digital Infrastructure in Hong Kong

John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, highlighted the role of artificial intelligence as a key pillar in the government’s acceleration of innovation and technology development. Lee stated that Hong Kong is positioned among the world’s leading economies in terms of AI readiness and is focused on implementing AI in an inclusive and responsible manner.

View this post on Instagram about Hong, Kong

The summit marked the second consecutive year that Hong Kong hosted the international conference, a move Lee noted demonstrates the unique advantages of the city under the One Country, Two Systems framework.

Zhuang Rongwen, Chairman of the World Internet Conference and Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, explained that the summit was designed to align with the trends of networking, digitalization, and intelligent transformation. The objective is to pool strengths across various sectors to contribute to the digital future of the Asia-Pacific region.

Integration of Digital Intelligence in Healthcare

A primary component of the summit was the Digital and Intelligent Health Forum, held on April 14 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This forum operated under the theme Digital-Intelligent Integration · Inclusive Health — Toward a People-Centered Smart Health Future.

The forum explored the application of next-generation information technologies within the healthcare sector, specifically focusing on:

• Artificial intelligence
• Big data
• Cloud computing
• The Internet of Things (IoT)

More than 100 representatives from universities, medical institutions, research institutes, government agencies, enterprises, and international organizations attended the forum to discuss cooperation opportunities and future trends in smart health.

Key remarks were delivered by Wu Dong, chief engineer of the Cyberspace Administration of China; Siaosi Sovaleni, Tonga’s minister for health and minister for public enterprises; and Percy Percive Chinyama, permanent secretary of the Smart Zambia Institute. These leaders emphasized the necessity of international cooperation and technological innovation to improve the sustainability, equity, and accessibility of healthcare services.

The health forum was divided into two themed sessions. The first session focused on the creation of an open and collaborative innovation ecosystem for digital and intelligent health. Participating organizations in this session included:

• The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine
• The CR-CP Life Sciences Fund
• The American Chamber of Commerce in China
• Yuanhua Robotics
• Perception & AI Technologies (HK) Ltd.

Digital Finance and Research Outcomes

Parallel to the health discussions, the summit featured the Smart Livelihoods and Digital Finance Forum. During this event, ten think tanks participating in the World Internet Conference Think Tank Cooperation Program released a series of research outcomes.