Chinese president calls for global governance effort over AI

The development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) should be a global effort, Chinese president Xi Jinping said, while reiterating China’s objections to what he called the “overstretching” of national security concerns.

Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Mr Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation.

American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world’s most advanced technologies, spurring China’s efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the tech race between the world’s two biggest economies.

“The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation,” Mr Xi said at China’s annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai.

Others attending included the leaders of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

“We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one’s own security above that of other countries,” the Chinese said, repeating a longstanding complaint from Beijing.

Over the next five years, he said China will provide 5,000 training opportunities on artificial intelligence to developing countries.

China will expand AI cooperation 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 Organisation and the BRICS countries, Mr Xi said.

He promised to provide access for 30 countries to a Chinese-developed AI meteorological system that provides early warning systems.

A day earlier, 29 countries including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement with China to establish a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation. State media described it as an intergovernmental organisation headquartered in Shanghai promoting global AI governance.

More than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are participating in the annual AI conference this year, state media said.

During the conference, tech giant Huawei will be showcasing its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD.

Some technology analysts now believe China has become an innovator in AI and is no longer just catching up with the US.

China’s five-year plan until 2030 has prioritised progress in frontiers of science and technology including AI.

China’s open-source AI models, like DeepSeek, have been seen as appealing and often times more affordable alternatives globally to US AI models, which are largely closed-source, and especially across the developing world.