Xi Jinping pitches China as leader of a new global AI order

4:34 AM · July 17, 2026

Chinese President Xi Jinping used the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai to position Beijing as the leader of a new global AI order, according to CNBC, urging countries to seize what he called the historic opportunity of open source AI and pledging to help developing nations build their own AI capabilities. Xi warned against the emergence of new historical injustices arising from unequal access to AI technology, and called for a just and equitable global governance system for the field, positioning China as a partner to the Global South on AI capacity building rather than a gatekeeper. He argued that AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation, an implicit rebuke of Washington's export controls and its efforts to set the terms for global AI governance on its own. The speech opened a four day conference that runs through July 20 and brings together more than 1,100 exhibiting companies and over 300 product debuts, alongside a parallel High Level Meeting on Global AI Governance. Xi's remarks add a pointed geopolitical dimension to a gathering otherwise built around commercial product launches, framing China's growing open weight model ecosystem as both a technical and diplomatic asset in its competition with the United States.