2026 SCO Digital Economy Forum opens in China's Xinjiang

The opening ceremony of the 2026 SCO Digital Economy Forum was held Tuesday in Urumqi City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The ongoing forum, scheduled from Monday to Wednesday, has brought together some 500 participants, including government officials, think tank experts, business leaders, academics and industry association representatives from SCO member states. Among them, more than 200 are international delegates.

Themed "Promoting SCO Data Connectivity, Shaping the Future with AI", the event aims to explore new avenues for practical cooperation in the digital economy, promote the exchange and alignment of digital economy policies and plans, continue to deepen mutual trust regarding data, advance the application of data and artificial intelligence across various sectors, and promote deeper, higher-quality regional cooperation.

The forum includes a ministerial-level closed-door meeting, an opening ceremony and plenary session, four thematic sub-forums, and a series of side events.

During the ministerial session, participants will focus on strengthening intergovernmental dialogue and practical cooperation, and are expected to draw up a priority cooperation agenda for the SCO digital economy (2026-2027) to guide joint efforts in the coming years.

The four thematic forums cover digital connectivity, digital trade and corridor economy, digital-intelligent industry applications, as well as digital governance and capacity building.

To facilitate tangible outcomes, the forum also features an interactive exhibition, business matchmaking sessions, and field visits to local projects and enterprises.

Digital economy cooperation has become a key priority on the SCO agenda in recent years. At the SCO Tianjin Summit in September 2025, heads of member states adopted a statement on strengthening digital economic development, committing to deeper collaboration in formulating international rules and standards for data security, advancing digital infrastructure development, and improving the delivery of public services.

2026 SCO Digital Economy Forum opens in China's Xinjiang

A newly released Chinese documentary provides a rare glimpse into the country's crackdown on cross-border telecom scam networks in northern Myanmar, highlighting the pivotal role of technological countermeasures in the campaign.

Titled "The Demise of Telecom Fraud in Northern Myanmar," the three-part documentary was jointly produced by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and China Media Group, and was aired on CCTV nationwide on Monday. It reveals the brutal conditions inside telecom fraud compounds in northern Myanmar, where scams mainly targeted Chinese citizens.

The documentary unveils the covert methods used by fraud gangs, such as stealing China's communication signals to make their scams highly deceptive.

"For example, they secretly ran wireless bridges, cables and fiber optics to pull domestic network signals into Muse (town in Myanmar) for remote use, allowing them to pose as users inside China and carry out fraud," said Zhang Zheng, a second-level inspector at the Cybersecurity Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

According to the documentary, expert teams from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology worked with public security authorities to conduct a sweeping inspection for illegal equipment in key areas.

In just three months, they shut down 75,000 fraud-related mobile phone numbers and more than 4,000 broadband accounts, and cleared nearly 100 wireless bridges, effectively cutting off the communication channels between fraudsters and users inside China.

Chinese documentary spotlights tech in Myanmar telecom fraud crackdown