By He Yin, People’s Daily
The 2025 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance were held from July 26 to 28 in Shanghai, marking a major step in advancing the Global AI Governance Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The event sought to bring together global wisdom and innovation to steer AI development toward the common good.
Under the theme “Global Solidarity in the AI Era,” the 2025 WAIC spotlighted ten priority areas, including scientific AI development and AI-driven industrial modernization. The conference served as a global platform to showcase cutting-edge technologies, emerging industry trends, and forward-looking approaches to AI governance.
A highlight of the event was the release of an action plan for global AI governance, calling on all parties to take coordinated steps in 13 key areas, such as empowering industries with AI, accelerating the construction of digital infrastructure, fostering a diverse and open innovation ecosystem, and strengthening international cooperation in AI capacity building. The plan represents a growing international consensus on promoting global AI development and governance through joint efforts.
As Turing Award laureate Yoshua Bengio observed, AI products should be treated as global public goods. A defining challenge of the times is how to transform breakthroughs in algorithms into tangible benefits that are widely shared and accessible.
Achieving this requires steadfast commitment to openness and inclusiveness, ensuring that more countries and communities can access and leverage AI technologies. Only through this approach can AI’s potential be fully realized to drive global economic and social development and to address shared challenges.
At the conference, the China Meteorological Administration officially launched its national early warning solution “MAZU” and donated the “MAZU-Urban,” an AI-powered early warning system for multi-hazard disaster prevention, to Djibouti and Mongolia.
Other innovations on display included intelligent aquaculture solutions that improve productivity and livelihoods, AI-powered platforms that enhance railway safety, and open-source large models designed to advance inclusive AI technology. Chinese AI technologies contributing to sustainable development in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe drew widespread attention.
As China promotes its “AI+” initiative, its development experience and technological solutions are increasingly benefiting the world, injecting fresh impetus into the global effort to harness AI for good.
The sustained advancement of AI technologies worldwide depends on an open and inclusive environment for innovation and cooperation. The 2025 WAIC unveiled over 3,000 AI innovations, including over 100 global and China-first debuts, showcasing a dynamic vision for global AI cooperation. Besides, 240 projects competed for the Super AI Leader Award, with international entries accounting for 17 percent. The event serves as a platform for dialogue and collaboration around new breakthroughs and applications.
It also saw the launch of the International Open Source AI Cooperation Initiative and the establishment of the Center for Global AI Innovation Governance, both aimed at leveraging open-source innovation to strengthen global AI ecosystems.
When innovation flows freely and integrates deeply across borders, AI technologies can evolve more rapidly and deliver more effective solutions that serve all humanity. Upholding the spirit of openness and cooperation, China stands ready to join other countries in advancing joint research and development, expanding open-source collaboration, and driving AI development to new heights.
While AI brings unprecedented opportunities, it also entails new and complex risks. Balancing development and security requires a broader consensus and more practical solutions. At the conference, China proposed the creation of a global AI cooperation organization, an initiative that responds to the aspirations of the Global South and seeks to bridge the digital and intelligent divide.
China has consistently worked to strengthen global AI governance. It has facilitated consensus at the UN General Assembly on a resolution to enhance international cooperation in AI capacity building, co-hosted the Group of Friends for International Cooperation on AI Capacity-building, and partnered with the UN to organize AI training workshops.
China is actively fulfilling its commitments under the UN’s Pact for the Future and the Global Digital Compact, contributing both ideas and concrete actions to the improvement of the global AI governance system.
By coordinating development and security and deepening alignment with other countries, China will work with all parties to accelerate the establishment of a broadly accepted global framework and set of rules for global AI governance.
In this era of intelligence, only through global solidarity and cooperation can the world seize opportunities and confront challenges effectively. China will remain committed to a people-centered approach, promoting AI for good, equity and inclusiveness, and fostering collaborative governance. It will work with all parties to strengthen international cooperation and improve global AI governance, building an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, secure, and trustworthy digital and intelligent future for all.
A woman interacts with a humanoid robot at the 2025 World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, July 26. (Photo by Long Wei/People’s Daily Online)
Photo taken on July 26 shows the exhibition booth of Amazon Web Services at the 2025 World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. (Photo by Long Wei/People’s Daily Online)
A boxing game for humanoid robots is held during the 2025 World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, July 27. (Photo by Chen Yuyu/People’s Daily Online)
