The 8th World Internet of Things Convention (WIOTC) kicked off on Monday in Chinese capital Beijing, aiming to promote worldwide economic transformation and development of a smart world supported by the IoT.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered an address via video at the opening ceremony of the event themed "Building a Global Market for a Digitally Connected Economy." 

"Through real-time data sharing and networking of information, IoT applications across transportation, agriculture, energy and healthcare are improving quality of life and can advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," said Guterres.

According to WIOTC Executive Committee Chairman He Xuming, China is a leading country in IoT infrastructure and application development. "We need to build a communication platform and try to come up with a standardized technology system through IoT organizations," said He.

Every year, the WIOTC explores how this technology can be developed sustainably. Foreign officials and ambassadors, representatives from international organizations and businesses, and experts take part in the meeting to share insights in line with the SDGs.

Sinisa Berjan, the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to China, said at the convention that as IoT technologies have been driving the development of various forms of the new economy, more countries are considering collaborating with China to boost their own countries' travel, agriculture, finance and sustainable causes.

Convention data indicates that this year, China is expected to exceed 3.2 million 5G base stations dedicated to IoT, positioning itself as the world's largest new-generation network superpower. Additionally, China's digital economy is projected to exceed 60 trillion yuan (about $8.4 trillion) in scale this year, with a growth rate of over 25 percent.