SHANGHAI (AP) — Developing and managing artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China’s objections to what he called “overreaching” national security concerns.
At a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by a single nation. U.S.-imposed restrictions have denied China access to some of the world’s most advanced technologies, spurring China’s efforts to build its own expertise and intensifying rivalry between the world’s two largest economies.
“The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo effort by a single country, but rather a symphony of global cooperation,” Xi said at the opening of China’s annual World Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Shanghai. Other participants included the heads of state and government of Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Thailand, as well as UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
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Xi rejects “overreaching” national security in AI
“We should jointly oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence and putting our own security above that of other countries,” he said, repeating a long-standing Chinese complaint.
China will expand AI cooperation 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 the BRICS countries, Xi said. He promised to give 30 countries access to an AI meteorology tool developed in China that provides early warning systems.
Xi said China will provide 5,000 AI training courses to developing countries in the next five years.
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Closer partnerships could help prevent “historic injustice in AI,” he said.
China’s new AI cooperation body is seen as a response to the US
Ahead of the conference, 29 countries, including Pakistan, Russia and Kazakhstan, signed an agreement with China to establish a World Organization for Artificial Intelligence. State media described it as a Shanghai-based intergovernmental organization that promotes global AI governance.
The new AI collaborative organization could be seen as China’s answer to the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, said George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at Washington-based consultancy The Asia Group.
The Pax Silica framework, launched late last year, focuses on strengthening collaboration with U.S. allies and partners in AI-related supply chains. Signatories include Japan, Great Britain, Australia, the Philippines, Israel and India.
After US President Donald Trump visited Beijing to meet with Xi in mid-May, China and the United States also agreed to hold a dialogue on AI development and governance.
Chen, who attended the conference in Shanghai, also said Xi’s speech could be seen as a signal that China can be a reliable partner for developing countries or countries in the “Global South.” “China will not allow America to have a monopoly on AI technology.”
China’s advanced technology is showcased while strengthening self-reliance
According to Chinese state media, more than 1,100 companies and 1,400 guests are attending the annual AI conference this year.
During the conference, which runs until Monday, tech giant Huawei will unveil its powerful AI computing system, the Atlas 950 SuperPoD.
Some technology analysts now believe that China has become an innovator in AI, moving beyond just the US. China’s five-year plan to 2030 has prioritized progress in the frontiers of science and technology, including AI.
China’s open source AI models such as DeepSeek are considered attractive, especially in developing countries, and are often more affordable than US AI models, most of which are closed source.
Coinciding with the conference, Chinese AI startup Moonshot released its latest AI model, Kimi K3. It is said that Kimi K3’s 2.8 trillion parameters – one of the metrics of an AI model’s performance – will make it the world’s largest open source model. The V4 Pro version of DeepSeek has 1.6 trillion parameters.
Last month, another Chinese AI company, Zhipu, or Z.ai, unveiled its new flagship open-source model GLM-5.2, challenging U.S. rivals including Anthropic’s models.
But U.S. politicians and several major U.S. AI companies, including Anthropic, have accused Chinese AI models of illegally “distilling” their models to extract their technologies, a claim Beijing says is “baseless.” U.S. policymakers have also expressed concerns that Chinese AI could pose an economic threat to the United States.
Chan reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu contributed from Beijing.
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