Xi positions China as AI partner for developing countries, warns of risks and security breaches

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday positioned China as a partner in artificial intelligence in the Global South, saying countries should come together to build AI and help developing countries.

Speaking at the World AI Summit in Shanghai, Xi announced that China will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training programs and seminars, as well as promote AI cooperation with various blocs, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States and the African Union.

“China is willing to work with all parties to grasp and face the opportunities and challenges of the development of artificial intelligence with an open attitude, rational actions, and a long-term vision,” according to a Google translation of his speech in Mandarin.

Xi said the development of AI should not be the “work of one person” of one country, but a “symphony of international cooperation” and China is “ready to be more open, take practical steps, and have a vision.”

Xi spoke a day after 29 countries signed an agreement in Shanghai to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, or WAICO, which will be headquartered in the city, according to Chinese media outlet Xinhua.

Xi also called for strengthening awareness of risks, and ensuring that AI is “secure and controllable,” and “always under human control,” adding that countries should resist “extending the concept of national security to the field of AI, or putting one country’s security above another.”

Although the Chinese president did not name a specific country, the US has implemented a variety of export control measures aimed at limiting China’s access to advanced technology. The United States began tightening restrictions during the first term of President Donald Trump, including placing Huawei on the Commerce Department’s list of companies in 2019.

The Biden administration later introduced export controls through 2022 to limit China’s ability to buy advanced computer chips and make advanced semiconductors, citing national security risks.

A giant Nvidia has seen its market share in China decline, stating in its annual report that it was unable to create and deliver a competitive product for the Chinese data center market mandated by Beijing and Washington.

“Since the end of fiscal year 2026, we have been denied competition in the Chinese PC/computer market, and our successful foreclosure of the Chinese market has helped our competitors build large ecosystems of developers and customers to challenge us globally,” it added.