In its ongoing competition with the United States for technical supremacy, China has presented a comprehensive strategy to increase its influence in AI governance, which includes the establishment of a global cooperation organisation.
China Proposes Global AI Oversight Body at WAIC 2025
During his speech at the inauguration of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on 26 July, Chinese premier Li Qiang lamented that “bottlenecks” like the availability of computer chips were limiting AI advancement.
According to Li, there is still a lack of cohesion in the field of global AI governance. When it comes to things like institutional rules and regulatory ideas, there is a world of variation between countries.
He continued by saying that the international community should work together more closely to quickly establish a global framework for AI governance that can garner widespread support. The establishment of “a world AI cooperation organisation” would be aided by China, he declared.
Inside China’s 13-Point Plan for AI Regulation
Following Li’s speech, the foreign ministry released a thirteen-point plan for the international regulation of artificial intelligence. The plan included a safety governance framework, two new UN-sponsored AI conversation venues, and other measures.
China’s Open-Source Push: LLMs, Chips & Shared Innovation
The Chinese capital has been touting its “open” innovation and “share indigenous technologies” policies for the past few months. Large language models (LLMs) developed by two of China’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies, DeepSeek and Alibaba, are now open-source and accessible to programmers all around the globe.
Part of China’s strategy is to encourage more sharing of critical software and hardware, including semiconductors, and more cooperation on open-source technologies via new international platforms and developer communities. The United States is worried that China’s superior open-source LLMs would threaten Silicon Valley’s worldwide pricing and dominance because of the country’s cheap tech.
Global AI Power Play: Tensions With the U.S.
In light of Washington’s restrictions on shipments to China of sophisticated semiconductors and the machinery used to manufacture AI solutions, as well as its pressure on allies to follow suit, Li’s remarks demonstrate the severe technological rivalry between the two countries.
A Hangzhou-based company called DeepSeek released an LLM this year, which prompted some to question whether the United States could keep its technological advantage. This shows that China is still making progress.
According to Li, China is eager to share more of its answers with the world and add more of its wisdom to the governance of artificial intelligence on a global scale. He elaborated by saying that AI will power a new wave of economic expansion. He emphasised China’s desire to “make the achievements of AI development better benefit the world” by sharing technology with southern nations.
A Geopolitical Showdown Over AI Leadership
Over the course of the four-day artificial intelligence conference and exhibition, China’s foreign ministry extended invitations to high-ranking officials from over forty nations and international organisations. Compared to 2024, when the conference was mostly attended by Americans, this year’s WAIC has seen an increase in international attendees. Yoshua Bengio of Canada, Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt are among the speakers scheduled to appear.
China’s strategy follows the White House’s recent announcement of a plan to make the United States the AI industry leader. Accelerating innovation through reducing bureaucracy, constructing infrastructure, and maintaining US leadership in worldwide AI diplomacy and security were the primary goals.
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