Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 6th World Internet Conference (WIC) that opened in east China's water town of Wuzhen on Sunday.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, read the letter at the opening ceremony of the conference.

"Countries should work together to promote better internet governance and strive to build a community with a shared future in cyberspace," Xi wrote in the letter.

Huang said the internet will be a key resource of the future that brings welfare to people living around the world. Promoting the digital economy and new technologies will remain an important goal for China.

"China leads the world in mobile internet for sure. 850 million people access the internet by mobile devices in China so it's by far the largest in the world. Here in Wuzhen, we've been coming to the World Internet Conference – now it's our sixth edition. It's the gathering place for professionals from all over the world and leaders from all over the world to talk about how we should develop the internet and govern the internet going forward," said John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd, a sponsor of the conference.

The WIC is one of the highest-level tech events hosted by China in which officials, experts and industry leaders discuss the future of the internet.

It's been 50 years since the internet was born. With 4G becoming a norm and 5G on the rise, people around the world want to know how cyberspace will evolve in the next half century.

We at CGTN have set up a studio in Wuzhen to bring you the best of the conference. Check here for our special coverage of the WIC 2019, including a live-stream of the WIC's massive expo with cutting-edge internet tech from around the world.

(CGTN's Yang Chengxi contributed to the story.)