Chinese President Xi Jinping poses for photos with foreign heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, and heads of delegations attending the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, July 17, 2026. Photo: Xinhua

"AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation," Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday while addressing the opening ceremony of the 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, stressing that China is ready to be more open, take more practical actions, and assume a more visionary perspective. 

We are ready to work with all parties to seize the opportunities of AI development and meet the challenges, and join hands to create a brighter future for humanity, he added. 

Xi's remarks received positive responses from domestic and foreign enterprises and experts, as they spoke highly of China's scientific and technological achievements in recent years while noting that China's commitment to openness and cooperation can help ensure that the benefits of AI are shared by all humanity and Chinese solutions in AI governance enable other countries to better tackle the common challenges brought about by AI development.

Openness and win-win cooperation

Xi presented four observations on AI development and governance in the speech. The Chinese leader called for adhering to the principle of openness and win-win cooperation while boosting innovation-driven development. He highlighted the importance of encouraging open-source, openness, collaboration and sharing to facilitate technological innovation, industrial development and scenario-based application of AI.

He also called for strengthening risk-awareness and ensuring that AI is secure and controllable.  Stressing the need to ensure that AI is always under human control, Xi urged all sides to jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country's security over that of others.

Third, he called for encouraging inclusiveness and promoting mutual learning among civilizations.

Fourth, he called for advocating solidarity and improving global governance. The important role of the United Nations should be recognized, Xi said, calling for further alignment and coordination on AI development strategies, governance rules and technical standards. 

"We must carry out extensive international cooperation and help Global South countries with capacity building to bridge the AI and digital divides, promote sustainable development and prevent creating new historical injustice in AI," he said.

In the next five years, China will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programs, Xi said. He said China will develop international AI application cooperation centers with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS. China will enable 30 countries to use the AI-powered meteorological warning system, or MAZU, to safeguard homes around the world. 

"President Xi's remarks underscore China's commitment to advancing global AI governance and technological innovation through opening-up and win-win cooperation, bringing new opportunities for sharing AI dividends and achieving shared prosperity to countries worldwide, especially developing countries," Song Yang, professor of School of Economics and research fellow at the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Friday.

China is sending a clear and important message: AI should become a bridge between countries, not a new dividing line, Luigi Gambardella, president of the Brussels-based international digital association ChinaEU, told the Global Times on Friday on the sidelines of the forum.

"No country, however technologically advanced, can develop and govern AI alone. China's commitment to openness and cooperation can help ensure that the benefits of AI are shared by all humanity. It can help prevent the fragmentation of technologies, standards and markets, while ensuring that the opportunities created by AI are shared more widely," Gambardella said.

"President Xi proposed 'adhering to the principle of openness and win-win cooperation' and 'advocating solidarity', and announced a series of pragmatic measures to support global AI development. These remarks have deeply inspired me and further strengthened my confidence in promoting the inclusive development of AI through opening-up and cooperation," Xu Li, chairman and CEO of Shanghai-based AI software company SenseTime, told the Global Times on Friday.

Looking ahead, SenseTime aims to bring more field-tested technologies, products, and talent cultivation expertise to more countries and regions, and boost "China innovation" to deliver sustained value across a wider spectrum of industrial scenarios, thereby enabling AI to better benefit all of humanity, Xu said.

China actively supports strengthening global cooperation on AI governance, advocates multilateralism, and promotes the establishment of a global governance framework, which has received positive responses from many Global South countries.

Twenty-nine countries on Thursday signed an agreement in Shanghai on establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). As an independent intergovernmental international organization headquartered in Shanghai, WAICO will uphold the purposes of the UN Charter, be committed to extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit and adhere to a people-centered approach, according to the agreement, per Xinhua.

Global spotlight on WAIC

Since its inception in 2018, the WAIC has successfully convened for eight consecutive editions, becoming an important window for showcasing cutting-edge AI technologies from China and around the world while deepening international opening-up and cooperation.

Themed "AI Partnership for a Brighter Future", the exhibition area exceeds 100,000 square meters for the first time this year, attracting the participation of over 1,100 enterprises. The exhibitors are showcasing more than 3,000 products and technologies, with over 300 products making their global debuts.

Among the exhibition highlights are Huawei's latest AI computing super node system Atlas 950, MiniMax M3 multimodal foundation model, and the world's first agentic AI phone, alongside a range of humanoid robots and AI-powered dexterous hands.

A German BMW representative, who attended WAIC for the first time, expressed enthusiasm about the event, highlighting the humanoid robotics showcased in the exhibition area - technologies he said he has never encountered before.

The representative told the Global Times that his company has adopted Chinese AI-powered large language models such as Qwen and DeepSeek. "The new updated versions of these models emerge weekly, which is very impressive," the representative said, speaking highly of the cost efficiency of Chinese models.

However, some Western media outlets keep smearing China's AI advancements and international cooperation. The Economist even claims that China's open-source AI is a "trap" and that embracing China is "risky."

Debunking this groundless smearing, Song said that China's AI development has consistently adhered to the philosophy of a people-centered approach and AI for good, accumulating a wealth of vivid, replicable, and scalable experiences.

At the opening ceremony of the WAIC, the China Meteorological Administration unveiled the MAZU-FengYun Satellite AI Box. The launch marks a new stage in MAZU's intelligent early-warning initiative, which was unveiled last year, shifting from providing shared meteorological products to delivering AI-enabled forecasting capabilities, according to the administration.

"Over the past year, meteorological and disaster reduction agencies from more than 40 countries have accessed the MAZU early warning technologies and products via cloud platforms. Customized versions of the tool have been deployed in Nigeria, Djibouti, Pakistan, and other nations, earning widespread recognition from users," You Yang, a staff member with the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, told the Global Times on Friday.

"From base models to industry-specific applications, China is opening up its low-cost, replicable technological pathways to the world, thereby lowering the threshold for underdeveloped nations to enter the AI era. Meanwhile, China actively helps developing countries address gaps in technology, talent, and governance capabilities to bridge the digital divide in the age of intelligence," Song said.

According to a March report from Hugging Face, one of the world's largest AI open-source communities, China has surpassed the US in monthly downloads and overall downloads. In the past year, Chinese models quickly accounted for the plurality or 41 percent of downloads.

"China possesses three unique institutional advantages in promoting AI for good and inclusive development: First, the new system for nationwide mobilization of resources coordinates development and security, achieving synergistic progress in key technological breakthroughs and rule-making. Second, a people-centered approach ensures that technological advancement benefits the people. Third, a multi-stakeholder agile and collaborative governance model links governments, universities, research institutions, enterprises, and social organizations to explore the synergy between rules and technology, providing China's experience to the world," Zeng Yi, a member of the UN Advisory Body on AI, told the Global Times on Friday.