Mobile Internet age brings developing countries innovation chances: Tencent CEO

Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent Co. Ltd., delivers a speech at the Internet Innovation Forum of the Second World Internet Conference, in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, Dec 17, 2015. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The era of mobile Internet provides a lot of innovation opportunities for developing countries, especially Asian nations, Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent Co. Ltd., said at the Internet Innovation Forum of the Second World Internet Conference, in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

Compared with the United States which launched the earliest Internet innovation, developing countries could take advantage of mobile Internet age to push forward their own cyber development, Ma said.

"The WeChat (an instant messaging app launched by Tencent), for example, is much more popular in Asian countries than in America. And China's mobile payment goes ahead of that in western countries," he added.

Talking about the popularity of WeChat, Ma emphasized that the evolution of information terminal plays a key role in the transformation of information industry and even the whole economy.

"Whether or not the WeChat will be replaced depends on the development of information terminal."

Speaking of Internet's influence on people's daily life, Ma said it is not only restricted in economic field, but also in social development.

"The development of Internet in China has gone beyond its own domain as it is connected with the real economy in an increasingly large scale." He said.

Lin Nianxiu, Member of Leadership of National Development and Research Commission of China, also recognized the importance of Internet innovation.

"Internet's high-speed development is playing an increasingly significant role in promoting China's innovative start-ups and economic transformation and upgrade." He said: "The opening and sharing of Internet also propels the development of poverty reduction in China."

The World Internet Conference, with a goal of "building a cyberspace community of shared destiny", has gathered together more than 2,000 participants, including state leaders, government officials, business leaders, Internet titans, and experts from more than 120 countries and regions.

The guests at 10 forums will exchange views on a wide range of topics such as Internet culture communication, Internet innovation and development, digital economic cooperation, cyber security, Internet plus, cyberspace governance and the digital Silk Road.