BEIJING, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

Open source and openness are not only a theme of the 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit, but also values highly recognized by the winners of the WIC Distinguished Contribution Award.

Conferred at the opening ceremony on Tuesday, the award was presented to two individuals and 15 enterprises. It recognizes outstanding contributions to global internet-related fields since the award's inception in 2024.

"Open source and openness lower the barrier to innovation," said Kong Qi, founder and CEO of Zelos.

Zelos, a fast-growing Chinese company specializing in autonomous driving unmanned logistics vehicles, has expanded to more than 300 cities in China and over 20 countries and regions in the five years since its debut, according to the company.

Through open source and inclusive access, the technology has helped upgrade and transform urban freight road networks, cutting costs and boosting efficiency, which significantly benefits urban and rural livelihoods.

Open source and openness are also gaining fresh relevance in the AI industry.

Another winner, in the Growth Potential category, was OceanBase, a database company incubated by Ant Group that develops data infrastructure and supports the growth of the global digital economy.

"Open source and openness are definitely not just about code being visible or free," CEO Evan Yang said. "They let basic software collaborate better and build a mutually reinforcing ecosystem."

Since 2021, the company has open-sourced its code. To date, it has released more than 5 million lines of code, and nearly 200,000 business and application systems run on its database, ranging from financial business and key projects tied to people's livelihoods.

Such efforts are helping Chinese technology reach global markets and earn wider international recognition.

"Open source and openness, joint contribution and shared benefits has become a consensus within the industry," said Jin Yun, head of marketing and communications at Siemens China. "Before the AI wave, we realized that the open ecosystem was unstoppable."

At the just-concluded China International Industry Fair, Siemens announced the launch of six embodied AI application scenarios at its Chinese factory to innovation enterprises.

The move allows them to test and verify the ideas and solutions in their factory, which helps iterate the technology.

Siemens has been in the Chinese market since 1872, with a history of over 150 years. "We've witnessed many changes during these years. One of them is the growing innovative capacity," Jin said, adding that China has become a source of innovation.

"Most importantly, we've also seen that some of China's innovations boast remarkable vitality, not only serving the local Chinese market but also reaching overseas markets as part of the trend of going global, realizing China's innovations serving the world."