Alibaba's Hangzhou meet to focus on empowering digital China

E-tailer giant Alibaba's annual meet in China's Hangzhou from Wednesday would focus on empowering 'Digital China', by showcasing its technology along with that of its partners, said the company on Tuesday.

"The theme of our annual event 'Computing Conference 2018' is 'Empower Digital China', and showcase latest technology to over 60,000 participants from across the country," said Alibaba in a statement from Hangzhou, 180 km southwest of Shanghai.

The four-day event is being held after Alibaba founder-chairman Jack Ma announced on September 10 that he would step down and make way for Chief Executive Daniel Zhang to succeed him in September 2019.

The $40 billion Alibaba is headquartered in Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang.

The ninth edition of the tech fest will also feature latest trends in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and blockchain.

"The conference aims to open a dialogue among industry experts around technology's influences on the economy and society," said the statement ahead of the mega event.

Besides Jack, Alibaba's top executives, including cloud head Simon Hu, technology steering committee chairman Wang Jian and chief technology officer Jeff Zhng would deliver keynotes on breakthroughs and the company's roadmap to develop emerging technologies.

In addition to presentations from the company's top executives, 170 forums will be held parallel where smart minds in technology will discuss on innovations in diverse industries.

About 200 tech firms, including 40 from overseas, will display their innovations, including self-service stores, smart logistics car and service robots in the exhibition, being held along with the conference at Cloud Town.

As a top influencer in the world, the event provides a panoramic view of Alibaba's technology commitment and excellence.

The conference is being held a week after the company hosted a four-day Taobao Maker Festival by the iconic West Lake in the city on September 13-16, where hundreds of young entrepreneurs showcased innovative products.

Taobao, meaning "search for treasure" in Mandarin, is Alibaba Group's digital portal, opened in 2003 for consumers to buy and sell a variety of goods, ranging from electronics, home appliances, furniture and clothing.

--IANS

bha-fb/qd