The new economy of the Internet of Everything, a new era of intelligent society.。
OnNovember28,the first Global Internet of Everything Digital Economy Sustainable Development Conference and the 2025 (10th) World Internet of Things Conference opened in Beijing. The conference was themed “The New Economy of the Internet of Everything, A New Era of Intelligent Society,” featuring over ten forums including the World New Economy Forum, Ambassador Forum, and the World IoT 500 Summit, covering core areas such as AI + IoT, smart energy, industrial interconnectivity, and connected transportation. The “Global Internet of Everything High-Level Digital Economy and Social Development Declaration” was also released during the event.
This conference attracted government officials from over 80 countries, diplomats stationed in China, representatives from international organizations such as the United Nations and UNCTAD, leaders from the three major global standard organizations, and executives and experts from 500 leading enterprises. The total number of offline attendees and online viewers exceeded 40 million, creating a high-end platform for technical exchange, industrial cooperation, and standard co-construction in the global IoT field.
The Internet of Things is Reshaping the Global Economy
At the opening ceremony of this World IoT Conference, representatives from UN agencies, international organizations, national political and business leaders, and academic experts gathered in Beijing to share their views on core topics such as digital technology empowering sustainable development and the integration and innovation of IoT and digital economy.
UN Deputy Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital Technology and Emerging Technologies Amandeep Singh Gill stated in his speech: “Digital technology is reshaping the world economy and profoundly affecting our daily lives, bringing great hope for accelerating the achievement of sustainable development goals. The digital future we seek is inclusive, open, sustainable, equitable, secure, and guaranteed. Today’s meeting also reflects the vision of the ‘Global Digital Compact.’ The issue of inclusive digital economy is at the core of this compact. The digital economy is increasingly intertwined with the global economy and may become an important engine for accelerating economic growth and improving social welfare. As we hold the 10th World IoT Conference and the first Global Internet of Everything Digital Economy Sustainable Development Conference, let us recommit to promoting inclusive digital innovation and forward-looking cooperation across all fields and regions.”
Chairman of the World IoT Conference He Xuming stated in his keynote report: The new generation of IoT and AI technology-supported digital economy transformation and upgrading is reshaping a brand new world. The global digital economy driven by IoT intelligent technology is growing rapidly at a rate of 8% per year, with this year’s digital economy scale expected to exceed 40 trillion USD; the number of global IoT connections is expected to exceed 30 billion, with a growth rate of over 10%. China leads the world in IoT infrastructure and digital economy innovation, having built nearly 4.8 million 5G base stations that support IoT, and is opening up satellite IoT, with the number of connections expected to exceed 3.5 billion. China’s digital economy is expected to exceed 80 trillion RMB in annual output value, with over 1.2 million enterprises meeting the conditions for a high-level digital economy of the Internet of Everything, forming a world innovation powerhouse centered on new quality productivity.
Former Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union Zhao Houlin stated that at the beginning of this century, the ITU proposed the concept of IoT, providing guidelines for the creation, application, and establishment of international standards for the global IoT. Collaboration among industry, academia, research, and application has driven the rapid growth of narrowband IoT and has timely transitioned to mobile broadband cellular IoT, now striving to expand to space and terrestrial broadband IoT. The new generation of IoT technology and high-tech such as AI are driving global economic growth and benefiting the global populace. The World IoT Conference focuses on the innovative development of the global Internet of Everything digital economy, releasing white papers and declarations, playing a positive role in guiding the transformation and upgrading of the digital economy and the innovative development of the digital society.
In the industry’s view, this conference, through in-depth dialogue and consensus among global political, industrial, academic, and research communities, clearly outlines the development blueprint for the digital economy in the era of the Internet of Everything. From the UN’s advocacy for an inclusive and sustainable digital future to China’s practical leadership in IoT infrastructure and digital economy scale, and to experts’ discussions on the paths of technology application and standard co-construction, it fully demonstrates the strategic value of digital technology as a core element of new quality productivity. As the scale of IoT connections continues to expand and the digital economy deeply integrates with the real economy, global technological innovation, industrial collaboration, and policy support will further intensify, promoting the digital economy towards a more inclusive, intelligent, and sustainable direction, injecting lasting momentum into global economic recovery and social welfare enhancement.
The Internet of Things is Advancing Towards the “Three Transformations”
It is noteworthy that at this conference, Li Zhengmao, Chairman of the Global Cloud Network Broadband Industry Association (WBBA) and former General Manager of China Telecom, stated in his speech that the global IoT development has entered a period of explosive growth, but it also faces multidimensional challenges. In the future, IoT will deeply advance towardsintelligence, security, and greenness, shifting overall from scale expansion to value deepening:
First, the acceleration of intelligent transformation, with AIoT becoming the core direction: The integration of IoT and artificial intelligence will become increasingly close, with IoT providing massive real scene data for AI, while AI endows devices with intelligent decision-making capabilities, achieving a leap from “device connection” to “intelligent interaction.”
Second, the upgrade of security protection systems, with stricter privacy protection: Data security regulations in various countries will continue to improve, with standards for data desensitization and security certification becoming increasingly standardized to ensure the safety of devices in critical areas and user privacy.
Third, the emphasis on green development, with low power consumption becoming a hard requirement: As environmental protection concepts deepen, low-power technologies will be widely applied in IoT devices. At the same time, IoT will empower various industries to save energy and reduce emissions, achieving a coordinated advancement of technological development and environmental protection.
Fourth, market scale expansion, with vertical deepening of application scenarios: It is expected that by 2030, the number of active IoT connections globally will exceed 75 billion devices. The penetration rate of industrial IoT will significantly increase, expected to reach over 65% by 2030; applications in smart cities, smart agriculture, and intelligent connected transportation will continue to deepen, while emerging scenarios such as digital twins and metaverse IoT interfaces will continue to emerge, expanding the application boundaries of IoT.
In addition, guests including Cao Chenghuan, Chairman of the International Organization for Standardization, Joe C. Kops, Chairman of the International Electrotechnical Commission, Katherine A. Kramer, President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Chen Chengchuan, President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, Mohamed Amin Ben Amour, Secretary-General of the Arab Information and Communication Technology Organization, Tobias Fredriksen, Director of the E-commerce and Digital Economy Division of UNCTAD, Makoto Onoue, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau of the ITU, Albert Torra Puigbert, Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Economy Transformation of Catalonia, Spain, and Ni Jianzhong, Executive Vice President of the China Mobile Communications Association, delivered keynote speeches.
Representing Haier Group, a global model enterprise for the Internet of Everything digital economy, Yu Lianghuan stated in his keynote speech that the application of IoT and intelligent technology in industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education, and home is becoming increasingly widespread, bringing intelligent upgrades and continuously enhancing innovation capabilities across various sectors. The global IoT and digital economy market scale continues to expand, and application fields are constantly broadening. Governments around the world are introducing policies to promote the transformation of the IoT digital economy. Especially in fields such as intelligent manufacturing, smart cities, and smart agriculture, IoT has become a key force driving the development of the world economy and society.
China has made significant breakthroughs in the R&D of core technologies for the IoT digital economy, with a number of global model cities and enterprises for the Internet of Everything digital economy emerging, which are worth promoting and learning from worldwide. It is hoped that the World IoT Conference will play a greater role in guiding the global digital economy towards the transformation and upgrading of the Internet of Everything digital economy, benefiting the intelligent lives, production, and work of people around the world, and contributing more to the innovative development of the global economy and society.
As a high-end dialogue and cooperation platform in the global IoT field, this World IoT Conference injects strong momentum into the development of the global IoT with its core values of consensus building, path exploration, and exemplary leadership. The conference not only built a bridge for cross-field and cross-border exchanges among government, industry, academia, research, and application, promoting broad consensus on inclusive digital economy, co-construction of technical standards, and industrial collaborative innovation, but also clearly outlined the core direction of IoT advancing towards intelligence, security, and greenness through the release of industry declarations, selection of exemplary benchmarks, and sorting of development paths. From sharing China’s practical experience in IoT infrastructure and digital economy to exploring cutting-edge technology applications and emerging scenarios globally, and systematically introducing new models of the digital economy, the conference provides important references for governments to formulate industrial policies and for enterprises to layout innovative tracks, while accelerating the deep integration of IoT technology with the real economy, providing solid support for the transformation and upgrading of the global digital economy and the realization of sustainable development goals, becoming a key engine for leading the high-quality development of the global IoT industry and opening the intelligent era of the Internet of Everything.
Written by: Li Hongli
Edited by: Hong Li
Guided by: Xin Wen
Further Reading:Li Zhengmao on IoT: Development, Challenges, and Future PathLi Zhengmao: Promoting Deep Integration of AI and Cloud Network BroadbandCoexistence and Prosperity: Li Zhengmao on AI and Metaverse Development (with PPT)Li Zhengmao: A Few Thoughts on the MetaverseRecommended Reading
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