Xi Opens 2026 WAIC; China Launches AI Body with 29 Nations

SHANGHAI — Chinese President Xi Jinping personally opened the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) on July 17, marking the first time a Chinese head of state has taken the stage at the annual event. In his keynote address, Xi announced the formal establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) — an independent intergovernmental body headquartered in Shanghai with 29 founding member nations — and called for global cooperation on AI governance, warning that AI “should not be allowed to become another arena for geopolitical confrontation.”

According to Caixin Global, WAICO was formally established on July 16 — the eve of the main conference — when 29 countries signed the founding agreement. The organization operates outside the United Nations system and is described as “open to all sovereign states and oriented toward development and the Global South.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed on behalf of China.

A Geopolitical Stage for AI

WAIC has been held annually in Shanghai since 2018, but Xi’s personal appearance this year signaled a deliberate escalation. Previous editions were formidable technology showcases, with Premier Li Qiang handling opening ceremonies in 2024 and 2025 while Xi sent congratulatory letters. His decision to take the stage in 2026 transformed the conference into what analysts describe as “more than a technology showcase; it is now a geopolitical stage where Beijing seeks to articulate its vision of AI as both a national priority and a diplomatic instrument.”

The Paper reported that the exhibition hall drew massive weekend crowds on July 18, with over 1,100 companies exhibiting across more than 100,000 square meters — making it the largest WAIC on record. More than 300 products made global debuts, and nine Turing Award and Nobel laureates participated, including Yoshua Bengio, Richard Sutton, and Thomas J. Sargent.

Xi’s Four Priorities and Key Announcements

In his keynote, Xi outlined four priorities for the global AI order: openness and win-win cooperation to promote innovation, stronger risk awareness to ensure AI remains safe and controllable, inclusiveness and respect for cultural diversity, and greater solidarity through multilateral cooperation. He urged rejection of attempts to place “one nation’s security above the security of others.”

State news agency Xinhua reported that Xi made several concrete pledges:

• 5,000 AI training slots for developing countries over five years
• International AI application cooperation centers with ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, CELAC, the SCO, and BRICS
• Deployment of the “Mazu” AI weather early-warning system in 30 countries over five years
• Commitments to improve Chinese laws, regulations, and ethical guidelines to keep AI “safe, reliable, and controllable”

The Founding Members and Notable Absentees

The 29 founding members span Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, including Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, and Venezuela. Notably absent are the United States, all European Union member states, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and Canada — underscoring the bifurcation of global AI governance into competing Western and Chinese-led frameworks.

WAICO was first proposed by Premier Li Qiang at WAIC 2025 and reiterated by Xi at the 33rd APEC meeting in South Korea in October 2025. In June 2026, China and Zambia jointly promoted AI capacity building at the United Nations headquarters in New York, accelerating preparations for the organization’s launch.

Exhibition Highlights: From Riding Robots to Exascale Computing

The conference showcased cutting-edge technologies that demonstrated AI’s deepening integration across industries. Huawei unveiled the Atlas 950 SuperPoD, featuring 8,192 Ascend 950DT processors delivering 8 exaflops of FP8 performance — China’s most advanced domestically controlled AI infrastructure. Global firsts included an AI agent smartphone developed by ZTE/Nubia in partnership with ByteDance, a riding robot from AGIQUAD, and the STEPX Neo native AI smartphone.

People’s Daily reported that the China Meteorological Administration released the “Mazu” Fengyun satellite AI toolbox at the conference, integrating satellite data with AI for weather forecasting — the same system Xi pledged to deploy in 30 nations.

Global South Strategy and UN Engagement

UN Secretary-General António Guterres attended the WAICO signing ceremony, signaling a complex relationship between the new body and the UN. While WAICO operates outside the UN system, Guterres noted that over 20 countries, including China, have joined a UN-initiated global AI capacity-building network. He warned that AI risks widening wealth gaps and reproducing digital divides, while praising China’s open-source model development as “valuable for the world.”

According to the Wikipedia entry on WAICO, digital expert Heru Sutadi argued that the organization “must be more than just an international organization discussing AI developments. It must be a platform that champions the interests of the Global South.”

The Competitive Landscape

WAICO’s launch comes at a pivotal moment in US-China AI competition. According to Stanford’s 2026 AI Index, the performance gap between leading US and Chinese AI models has narrowed to just 2.7 percentage points — down from 17.5–31.6 points in 2023. While US private AI investment ($285.9 billion in 2025) vastly exceeds China’s ($12.4 billion), China leads on AI publications (23.2% of global share), patents (69.7% of global filings), and industrial robot installations.

Analysts from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace suggest China may use WAICO to expand its network of AI cooperation centers and shape AI policy discussions at the UN. The organization is widely viewed as a direct challenge to Western AI governance frameworks including the OECD’s AI Principles, the EU’s AI Act, and the G7 Hiroshima Process.

What’s Next

Several questions remain as WAICO begins its work. Will additional nations — particularly from the Global South — join the initial 29? How will the US and EU respond with counter-initiatives or competing governance frameworks? And critically, what enforcement mechanisms will WAICO have? Writing in Nature in 2025, Elizabeth Gibney speculated that WAICO will likely not govern the AI industry in an enforceable way.

For now, China’s pitch to developing nations is clear: open-weight AI models, cheaper inference costs, and a formal governance role in shaping AI rules — a combination that Western frameworks have not replicated for most of the world. As Xi put it, “AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation.”