Cooperation makes AI public good for world: China Daily editorial

In recognition that artificial intelligence is both a global challenge and a major opportunity for the world, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global AI Governance Initiative in 2023, contributing China's wisdom on how to develop and govern AI.

China has always been a doer in that regard. Last year, it put forward an AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All that outlined practical measures to put the AI Governance Initiative into effect. This year, it proposed a global AI cooperation organization be established, and it is tentatively considering locating the headquarters of the organization in Shanghai.

The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a Resolution on Enhancing International Cooperation in Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence cosponsored by 143 member states last year. This speaks volumes about the ardent hope of countries, especially those in the Global South, that they can participate in AI development and governance.

China's proposal to found a global AI cooperation organization represents its latest effort to ensure that the development of AI is inclusive and contributes to the common good.

Artificial intelligence will shape the future trajectory of the world. That makes the AI policy of major countries a touchstone of how they view the transformative technology: Whether it is the trigger for a game of thrones or a contributor to the common good of the world.

It is worrying that certain major players in the field seem to regard it as the former, prompting worries that "winter is coming" amid fears of how the technology might be weaponized.

China, as a major player in the AI sector, has given a clear-cut answer that it takes the alternative view, that AI, like other technologies, must be a tool that is harnessed and controlled by humans as a public good that benefits humanity.

That's the message China reiterated at the 2025 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance held from Saturday to Monday in Shanghai.

In his speech at the opening of the conference, Premier Li Qiang urged the international community to place greater emphasis on the joint governance of AI, calling for the early formation of a global framework and rules that have broad consensus to guide the development and use of AI.

More than 1,000 officials and representatives of industries, universities and research institutes from China and abroad attended the opening ceremony of the WAIC, showing that China's call for cooperation on AI has a large audience and growing resonance.

With rapid progress being made in fields such as large language models, multimodal large models and embodied AI, propelling AI development toward greater efficiency and higher intelligence, it is imperative that the world accelerate consensus-building and draft a framework for the global governance of AI to ensure it is used ethically and the risks and challenges posed by the technology are properly managed.

AI governance requires a consensus on the standards and norms for its use and the mechanisms and institutions for oversight to ensure these are adhered to. Countries need to step up their coordination to build an effective AI global governance system. A biased or selective approach that forms an insular clique is neither advisable nor feasible.

AI is a common asset for and potential threat to humanity. It is important to uphold openness, connectivity and equality, and not to erect walls, decouple or discriminate. All countries should work together for an open, inclusive and nondiscriminatory environment for AI development.

China urges more efforts be made to ensure universal access to AI so that all can benefit from the life-changing technology. AI should not and must not become a tool for maintaining hegemony or seeking unfair advantages.

The country on its part "is willing to share its AI development experience and technological products to help countries around the world — especially those in the Global South — to strengthen their capacity-building", Premier Li said at the WAIC.

As greater cooperation is needed on innovation to achieve more groundbreaking results, China stands ready to undertake joint technical research with other countries, and will be open in sharing open-source technology and products, as Li said.

The global AI cooperation organization China has proposed would serve as a pragmatic platform to safely unleash the full potential of AI by establishing international standards for AI governance, based on enhancing the coordination and alignment of AI development strategies, with respect for different policies and practices.

Through this platform, countries of the Global South would be able to strengthen their capacity-building to nurture their own AI innovation ecosystems. Used with the common good in mind, AI can bring the world even closer toward a shared future.