Chinese Premier Li Qiang made a sweeping pledge at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai: setting up an international AI cooperation organization. It is China’s strongest signal yet that it is keenly interested in having a larger role to play in the governance of artificial intelligence around the globe.
Li contended that AI research can no longer be left in the hands of any one country or technology giants to monopolize. Rather, if anything, he claimed the future of AI must now be determined on the world stage with worldwide access, ethical limits, and open innovation frameworks that favor developing countries in the Global South.
China will spearhead the creation of an international organization to jointly develop AI, the country’s premier told the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday https://t.co/oHUd3whypR
— Bloomberg (@business) July 26, 2025
Why It Matters Now
China’s action follows that of the United States government release of its own AI policy, a surge of exports and easing of controls to ensure it keeps its technological supremacy. Beijing, in this context, is emerging as an alternative option that is encouraging co-management and balanced development.
This new initiative also reflects increasing international concern at untrammeled single-nation control, in this case largely by the U.S., of AI innovation, deployment, and use. China, by invoking multilateralism, is seeking to dictate terms: away from hegemony and towards diplomacy.
As China and America’s technology rivalry, particularly for chip control, sharing of information, and AI research, grows more aggressive, China’s call for a rule-based, mutual system can attract governments and creators who want a more level playing ground.
China’s Key Features
Three principles will define the new framework, Li Qiang stated:
- Open Access to AI: Giving access to and benefit from AI innovation to all countries whether they are affluent or not.
- Collaborative Development: Promoting shared research, open-source technology, and global developer communities.
- Joint Regulation: Establishing globally harmonized ethical guidelines to prevent misuse, bias, and monopoly control.
Considering all this, the Chinese government put forward a 13-point AI regulation plan, inviting proposals from around the globe, governments, professionals, technology companies, and multilateral organizations.
There is particular focus on growing infrastructure and developer presence into the developing economies. China is viewing it as a strategic imperative and a moral obligation to project influence across the Global South.
The Bigger Picture at WAIC
Over 800 firms, ranging from industry giants like Huawei, Alibaba, Alphabet, and Tesla to many others, are joining the WAIC. They are showcasing over 3,000 uses of AI across industries, ranging from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and education.
AI giants showcase 3,000+ innovations at WAIC 2025 ( Image Source: Artificial Intelligence International Institute )
It’s not all about gadgets and demos at the conference. It’s a show of geopolitical braggadocio. While China’s poaching visionaries like Geoffrey Hinton and former Google head Eric Schmidt, Beijing is sending out a message loud and clear: it’s not just building tomorrow’s gadgets, it’s keen to set the rules, too.
Diplomacy Over Deregulation
The innovation is tone. As the U.S. is climbing back into the saddle of competition after deregulation, China is promoting a platform of coordination and cooperation. It’s measured counter-action: rather than attempting to outmuscle America with sheer innovation, China would prefer to set the policies and standards that will be powering that innovation globally.
China also offered to host the organization in Shanghai as part of its ambition to be a diplomatic and tech hub of the AI age.
This shift in rule-making can be a game-changer strategically,.especially for developing and middle-income nations who want access to AI capability but don’t desire to be controlled by the West.
What to Watch Next
Several questions remain unanswered, but what happens next will be the determining factor
- Will others wager on a world AI institution?
- How will the US, EU, and other tech capitals respond?
- Will this move affect BRICS or Global South AI policy, i.e., talent formation and data access?
- Are there specific proposals for co-platforms or infrastructure initiatives that equalize the AI playing field?
The global reaction to China’s offer has the power to change not only who makes AI, but who uses it, and how.
Also Read: Trump’s U.S. AI Supremacy Dream
What It Means for Stakeholders
Developers and startups, China’s offer can mean greater access to open platforms and usable tools for areas which the large companies have yet to reach.
Policy makers and school counselors will be keeping a close eye on how this international conversation comes out, especially its implications for privacy, data ownership, and algorithmic purity.
Investors and analysts, on the other hand, will be looking at whether China’s cooperative spin is a deep-seated shift or diplomatic action to demonstrate its visibility in the world through networks of technology and soft power.
Endnote
China’s push towards an international AI co-op framework isn’t a bid to control technology, it’s political and economic. While the U.S. leads and exports, China is offering regulation and openness as its power.
Whether this marks the beginning of a more level playing field AI world to be, or the next chapter in the East-West technology war, is uncertain. One thing is certain, however: AI is no longer about code, it’s about control of the future.
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