AI Photo: VCG

It seems that artificial intelligence (AI) cooperation is moving to the forefront of China's economic and trade exchanges, becoming a core highlight and a new growth driver for pragmatic collaboration worldwide. This shift reflects China's rising influence and growing appeal in the global digital economy - a trend nowhere more visible than in the growing number of business forums being held on Chinese soil.

For instance, Dubai Chambers unveiled the agenda for the upcoming Dubai Business Forum - China, which will take place in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, on October 14, according to a press release posted on Sunday on the official website of the Government of Dubai Media Office. 

The event will explore key areas of cooperation between Dubai and China and highlight promising opportunities across trade, investment, technology, and innovation, with themes spanning smart capital and investment opportunities in AI, fintech, advanced manufacturing, and digital infrastructure.

China's AI sector has gained strong momentum in recent years, demonstrating outstanding international competitiveness across research output, frontier model development, and industrial application. This progress has, in turn, attracted a growing number of economies seeking cooperation with China in this field.

Countries from Latin America to Southeast Asia are advancing practical AI collaboration with China. Brazil has adopted Chinese intelligent inspection systems to safeguard the stability of the grid, and Asia-Pacific economies such as Malaysia hope to leverage China's comprehensive industrial system to expand AI application scenarios, according to Chinese media reports. 

This surge in willingness to cooperate is underpinned by credible industrial achievements that have earned China growing market recognition.

The fundamental reason for China's growing appeal in global AI cooperation lies in its ability to show more economies the possibility of shared development. Backed by massive manufacturing scenarios and robust digital infrastructure, China enables AI technologies to penetrate industrial production, smart logistics, digital payment, and countless other fields, delivering tangible gains in efficiency, productivity, and industrial upgrading. For most countries, this capacity for real-world industrial implementation is far more persuasive than conceptual technological demonstrations.

Moreover, China's openness serves as an amplifier of its appeal. For Dubai, and emerging markets at large, the priority is practical solutions that integrate with local economies and deliver growth. Chinese companies typically offer flexible cooperation models built around deep integration with local industries, free of sweeping political conditions. This pragmatic approach lowers the threshold for cooperation and has laid a broad market foundation for Chinese AI firms across the Global South.

This open posture stands in sharp contrast to the approach taken in parts of the West. Citing so-called concerns over potential technological risks, some Western governments have rolled out various restrictions targeting advanced chips, computing power tools and AI-related technologies. 

While vigilance against emerging technology risks is understandable, risk supervision should never equate to unilateral isolation and technological blockades. Excessive reliance on unilateral restrictions fails to address cross-border technological spillovers and systemic risks. Instead, such moves fragment global technological ecosystems, raise the costs of international governance and hinder coordinated global progress in AI development.

In essence, AI challenges transcend national boundaries. Model security, data privacy, algorithmic bias, technological misuse and supply chain fragility are all global issues that no single country can address independently. But experience shows that rules-based global collaboration delivers far healthier and more effective technological governance than unilateral barriers and fragmented competition. 

Global challenges including climate change and public health have all demonstrated that cross-border issues require cross-border solutions. AI governance follows the same logic, demanding continuous dialogue on standard-setting, risk monitoring and prevention and ethical norms rather than politicizing technology or dividing the world into opposing tech blocs.

Ultimately, the future of AI should be inclusive and shared, not fragmented and confrontational. Whoever can provide a more open cooperation framework, more stable expectations regarding rules, and more tangible industrial dividends will earn more trust in this global technological transformation.