China defended its vision of “internet sovereignty” yesterday as it kicked off a state-run internet conference that has drawn in some of the biggest global names in technology — despite a year defined by tightened censorship in the country.

Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, and Sundar Pichai, head of Google, will speak at the conference in eastern China, the first time the Silicon Valley firms have sent such senior representation. Jack Ma, head of Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, will also speak.

Beijing argues that internet sovereignty gives each country the right to regulate its own internet — a vision that China has already achieved by operating a system with tight restrictions on connectivity to the rest of the world. It is helping other countries develop similar online architecture.