The 2024 World Internet Conference recently opened in Wuzhen, Zhejiang. Zhang Chaoyang, founder, chairman, and CEO of sohu.com, as well as a doctorate in physics, attended as a guest to participate in the opening ceremony and the Internet Entrepreneurs Forum, discussing internet innovation and development in the new era with a number of leading figures from the internet industry.

This year marks the eleventh anniversary of the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen and the thirtieth anniversary of internet development in china. In Zhang Chaoyang's view, over the past thirty years, the internet has undergone profound and lengthy evolution from PC to mobile, from text and images to video and live streaming, from channel distribution to new media and algorithm recommendations, and then to e-commerce and ai-driven innovation.

At the 'Internet Entrepreneurs Subforum,' Zhang Chaoyang hosted a roundtable discussion with internet entrepreneurs such as Zhou Yuan and Han Kun, engaging in dialogue around 'innovative development, gathering the future.' They focused on the keyword 'innovation' from various angles including the essence of innovation, corporate management, talent technology, and future challenges. Zhang Chaoyang emphasized that internet innovation is crucial; without innovation, a company will be eliminated.

How to build an innovative enterprise? Zhang Chaoyang believes that innovation is not just a manifestation of creativity but also a success after practical implementation. Additionally, regarding corporate management, the capability for innovation needs to be deeply embedded in corporate culture. 'Founders and management form a culture, and over time this will shape what your company is like; this culture provides resilience for the company to tackle complex challenges.'

Moreover, corporate innovation also faces various challenges such as funding shortages, user costs, and revenue model optimization. However, Zhang Chaoyang believes that these issues are the fuel for corporate growth. In his view, innovation is not a short-term behavior but rather a long-term endeavor deeply cultivated in a specific field, driven by corporate culture, that creates a unique path.

As the theme of the 2024 World Internet Conference suggests, 'Embrace a human-centered, benevolent digital future — jointly build a community of shared destiny in cyberspace,' the future of china's internet will have a broader and healthier development space. As one of the first internet companies to go online, sohu.com has witnessed and participated in the profound changes in china's internet. Currently, in the context of the rapid rise of new media forms like short videos and live streaming, sohu.com is also keeping pace with industry trends, continuously injecting vitality into business development through content innovation. 'Innovation is the eternal theme of the internet industry,' finding one's direction amidst uncertainty and maintaining competitiveness through continuous innovation is also a consensus shared by Zhang Chaoyang and the entrepreneurs present.