The 2023 China New Media Conference opened in Changsha, capital of central Hunan Province, on Wednesday, gathering industry insiders to explore the fast-evolving sector that is increasingly defined by technologies like 5G, the metaverse and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI).

More than 800 government officials, media experts and practitioners were joined by representatives from universities and research institutions to discuss how to best seize the opportunities presented by the new media sector.
At this year's event, many guest speakers agreed that new and emerging technologies will reshape the new media landscape, power a new wave of innovation, and boost the development of the industry in China.

"In the information age, metaverse, virtual reality, and especially generative artificial intelligence appear alternately, giving us a deeper sense of the future. We should fully understand the underlying logic of this profound change, and actively adapt to the trend of media integration," said He Ping, chairman of the All-China Journalists Association, co-organizer of the conference.

"The generative artificial intelligence technology represented by ChatGPT will bring profound changes to media communication. First, communication content will now be able to automatically generate, making artificial intelligence replacing humans in creative activities become a reality," said Yang Zhenbin, Party committee secretary at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

China's new media industry has seen rapid development in the past decade, with the online audiovisual industry here growing over 20 times. Different organizations have been exploring new types of media forms and integrating new types of technologies.
In addition to the opening ceremony, this year's conference, which runs through Thursday, will included six parallel forums and four themed activities and exhibitions.

Initiated in 2018, the conference is China's most important gathering in the new media sector.