Chinese leader Xi Jinping attended the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai in July and used his remarks to advance the People’s Republic of China’s pitch for global AI governance and cooperation. At the event Beijing also launched the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), a Shanghai‑headquartered body that opened with 29 founding members.
World AI Conference as China’s Global AI Platform
The 2026 WAIC marked a turning point in Beijing’s effort to translate domestic AI strength into a broader international role. Xi pledged to ‘further support global AI development and advance global AI capacity building,’ including offering developing countries 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programs. The conference theme, ‘Intelligent Partners, Co‑Creating the Future,’ framed a pitch aimed in particular at the Global South.
WAIC organizers announced the establishment of WAICO at the 2026 meeting; details about the new organization’s mandate and future membership remain limited. The launch follows prior WAIC initiatives that signalled Beijing’s international ambitions, including a 2024 Shanghai Declaration and a 2025 Global AI Governance Action Plan.
Origins and Domestic Policy
The WAIC was inaugurated in 2018 shortly after the PRC published its 2017 New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan. That plan positioned AI as a strategic opportunity, calling for AI to become a new economic growth point and for China to become a primary global AI innovation center by 2030. Shanghai adopted municipal implementation measures and a 2019–2021 action plan that explicitly used the WAIC as a ‘hub‑type innovation platform’ to gather global innovation resources.
Beijing’s earlier industrial policy efforts also set the stage: the 2015 Made in China 2025 initiative emphasized advanced and intelligent technologies, and subsequent national strategies reinforced AI as a strategic technology requiring standards, regulations and international outreach.
From Domestic Showcase to International Forum
Since 2018 the WAIC has evolved from a domestic policy platform into an international forum for promoting China’s AI agenda. The conference has previously hosted high‑profile technology figures and policymakers; notable participants over the years included Jack Ma, Elon Musk, Henry Kissinger, Robin Li, Pony Ma, Kai‑Fu Lee, Geoffrey Hinton, Harry Shum and Eric Schmidt. In 2019 Ma and Musk debated AI’s future in Shanghai. Musk remained a prominent participant through 2025, but Western technologists and former U.S. officials were absent from the 2026 edition, although United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres delivered an opening address.
The WAIC has also been used to set out governance positions. The 2024 Shanghai Declaration promoted AI development, safety, governance systems and public participation. The 2025 Global AI Governance Action Plan set out 13 points on AI development, infrastructure and norms, and in 2026 those threads culminated in the unveiling of WAICO.
Industry Advances and Global Reach
China’s recent commercial AI advances have made the WAIC a more consequential venue. The article notes DeepSeek’s R‑1 model was released in January 2025, and Moonshot AI released its Kimi K3 model on the eve of the 2026 conference. These product cycles have amplified the conference’s role as a showcase for Chinese companies.
WAIC organizers report a sharp rise in online viewership, from roughly 253 million viewers in 2020 to over 2 billion by 2024, underlining the event’s growing global reach.
What to Watch Next
The WAICO launch will be a key indicator of how Beijing seeks to institutionalize its global AI governance approach. Observers will be watching WAICO’s membership expansion, programs and how it complements existing international AI governance initiatives. Domestically, China’s strategy—linking industrial policy, municipal platforms such as Shanghai and high‑profile industry showcases—continues to shape the WAIC’s role as both a convener and a vehicle for international influence.
Lea Thome is the Schwarzman Fellow at the Wilson Center, affiliated with the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States. She holds a master’s degree in Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar from Tsinghua University in Beijing and specializes in China’s maritime expansion through ports and bases.
