The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance was held in Shanghai, China, from July 17 to 20, 2026, bringing together official representatives and industrial, business, academic and research guests from more than 100 countries and international organizations. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered the keynote address, charting the course for building a just and equitable global AI governance system.
Today, major changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the world, the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is advancing at a faster pace, and the world has entered an unprecedented period of active innovation on AI technologies. While AI is profoundly reshaping the way people live and work, it is also venturing into new and uncharted waters. How to get along with thinking machines? How to ensure security when an algorithm is part of decision-making? How to tackle ethical challenges by technologies through adaptive governance? How to realize AI for all when the divide keeps widening? These are the questions of our time that President Xi Jinping put to the world at the opening ceremony of the Conference — questions that no country, and no people, can afford to avoid.
On one side is a surging wave of technological change; on the other, the reality that global governance has yet to keep pace. What should be done? We must answer the fundamental questions “whom technology is developed for, on whom it relies, and who is to control it.”
Huawei Intelligent IP Solution helps enterprises build more res...
First, we should uphold a people-centered principle. However far technology advances, for the wellbeing of the humans remains both the measure and the ultimate purpose. AI is an invaluable asset that encapsulates humanity's collective wisdom. All countries should take a people-centered approach and develop AI for the positive and for good, so that it becomes an important driver for shared prosperity and common security. AI should always remain a trusted tool for humanity. We should prevent abuses and malicious use, and ensure that AI is always under human control. AI should serve as a bridge for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, not a blade that tears the world’s diversity. We must shape the values of AI with humanity's common values to ensure that the beauty of each civilization is appreciated and shared. The development of AI should uphold the principles of fairness and non-discrimination, avoiding bias or discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, faith, nationality or gender in data collection, algorithm design, and technology development and application.
Second, we should uphold a development approach. AI should be an international public good that benefits humanity, not a tool reserved for a privileged few. AI is moving from the digital world into the physical world, becoming a new engine of global economic growth and an accelerator for the shift of growth drivers. Whoever seizes the opportunities in the new economy, such as big data and AI, will take the pulse of the times. China stands ready to work with all countries to seize this rare, historic opportunity to encourage open source, openness, collaboration and sharing. We should facilitate technological innovation, industrial development and scenario-based application of AI. We should make coordinated advances in the transformation and upgrade of traditional industries, the cultivation and growth of emerging industries and forward-looking planning for future industries so that all sectors and businesses can benefit from AI. We should accelerate building a community with a shared future in cyberspace and help improve global science and technology governance, ensuring that the fruits of scientific progress reach and benefit more people as we work together to create a brighter future for all.
Third, we should advance innovation in governance. As a Chinese proverb goes, “A single string cannot make music, and a single tree does not make a forest.” AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of global cooperation. We should practice true multilateralism and recognize the important role of the United Nations. We should enhance alignment and coordination on AI development strategies, governance rules and technical standards so as to form a consensus-based global governance framework at an early date to make this frontier technology better benefit the international community. Global AI development today remains uneven, and the AI divide continues to widen. We must carry out extensive international cooperation and help Global South countries with capacity building to bridge the AI and digital divides, promote sustainable development, and prevent creating new historical injustice in AI sector.
Answering these three questions ultimately comes down to concrete cooperation. As a responsible major country, China is always committed to providing international public goods relating to AI. President Xi Jinping announced that in the next five years, China will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programs; develop international AI application cooperation centers 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 Organization, and BRICS; and enable 30 countries to use the AI-powered meteorological early-warning solution MAZU, to safeguard homes around the world. These practical measures have opened a new window for developing countries to take part in AI development. The Conference issued the Chair’s Statement of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, consolidating broad international consensus, and signed the Agreement on the Establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, which significantly enhanced the representation and voice of the Global South in global AI governance and made this conference a milestone in the history of AI development.
Bound by the majestic Himalayas, China and Nepal enjoy a time-honoured friendship. The development and governance of AI is a challenge facing humanity, and it also provides an important opportunity for China and Nepal to work together, cooperate and pursue development side by side. In a spirit of openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit, China stands ready to work hand in hand with Nepal so that the opportunities of the AI age truly benefit the people of our two countries, and to further deepen and enrich the Nepal-China Strategic Partnership of Cooperation Featuring Ever-lasting Friendship for Development and Prosperity.
The author is the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nepal.
