Zhanjiang city in South China's Guangdong province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The 15th Forum on Internet Media of China, a three-day event starting in Guangdong's Zhanjiang city on Thursday, will initiate an online silk road to turn a new page in Internet media cooperation on cross-border communication.

Themed an "E-path to One Belt, One Road", the forum follows the Belt and Road Initiative and the "Cyberpower" strategy put forward by the CPC Central Committee led by general secretary Xi Jinping since 2013.

Zhu Ling, president and editor-in-chief of China Daily, and Wang Zhongbing, mayor of Zhanjiang, will both attend the event in the southern coastal city. The national media outlet and municipal government have co-organized this year's event.

About 300 guests will attend, including leaders of key Internet websites, at both national and regional levels, major players in investment institutions and the Internet sector, renowned experts on the Belt and Road Initiative, industry representatives and city officials.

They will give guidance or brainstorm on the roles media convergence and technological innovations can play in the context of the new situation and new normal, and how Internet media can better help boost the Belt and Road Initiative.

A consensus, to be known as the Zhanjiang Declaration, will be reached at the end of the forum.

Also participating will be Ren Xianliang, deputy chief of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Zhai Huisheng, Party secretary and managing vice-president of the All-China Journalists Association, Shen Haixiong, vice president of Xinhua News Agency, He Dongping, editor-in-chief of Guangming Daily, Wang Qiu, former head of China National Radio, Wang Gengnian, head of China Radio International and Chen Yunxian, vice-governor of Guangdong province.

The forum, led by the Cyberspace Administration of China, is co-hosted by the All-China Journalists' Association and major news websites at both national and regional levels.

It is the second time China Daily website has undertaken the job of co-organizer, having first been involved with the sixth event nine years ago.

Initiated in 2001, the forum has evolved into the most high-profile and influential annual event in its field. As a developed platform for exchange and cooperation among government, industry and academia, the forum has witnessed the development of the Chinese Internet industry. Topics raised at previous events have set the trends of the development of Chinese Internet media.