World AI Conference sends new signals on China's AI development

The 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance opened in Shanghai on July 17. The gathering highlighted a shift in China's approach to AI, as the country moves from catching up technologically to building an ecosystem, and from participating in international rulemaking to supplying public goods that benefit the wider world. The event injected fresh momentum into global AI development and governance.

China's AI sector is moving from isolated breakthroughs to a systemic leap forward. The country has built an innovation ecosystem spanning infrastructure, algorithms, computing power and applications. General-purpose large language models continue to advance, intelligent computing facilities are expanding rapidly, and the "AI Plus" initiative is promoting the in-depth integration of AI across sectors including manufacturing, health care, transportation and energy.

Abundant application scenarios are providing a testing ground for technological iteration, while an open industrial ecosystem is accelerating the commercialization of innovation, making AI an increasingly important engine for cultivating new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality development.

China's technological pathways, industrial ecosystems and internal evolution models are turning the country from a follower into a source of reference for the world, cementing its role as a key hub in the global AI innovation network.

China is moving from advocating governance principles to supplying public goods. In his keynote address to the WAIC, President Xi Jinping said China is always committed to providing international public goods relating to AI and to taking a people-centered approach in developing AI for good.

From proposing the Global AI Governance Initiative to establishing an international cooperation organization as a working platform, China has pushed forward policy communication, rule coordination and risk response, turning governance concepts into workable, sustainable international public goods while providing Chinese solutions to address the current global governance deficit.

China is expanding from sharing outcomes to building capacity together. AI should not become a tool reserved for a few countries but a shared asset benefiting people of all countries. At this year's WAIC, China put forward a series of practical and multilateral proposals, including cross-border research networks, joint training mechanisms for international professionals and the promotion of inclusive AI solutions around the world — with a particular focus on capacity-building in the Global South to narrow the digital divide.

The event marked not only a review of China's AI progress but also a new strategic starting point for reshaping global AI governance. Looking ahead, China will continue strengthening development through innovation, safeguarding security through rules and expanding inclusive benefits through cooperation, working with all parties to promote the sound development of AI while ensuring that it is beneficial, safe and fair.

Lu Chuanying is a professor at Tongji University and a researcher at the Shanghai Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.