On July 26 2025, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang unveiled a highly ambitious initiative: to set up a global organization to ensure international cooperation on artificial intelligence.
According to Reuters, behind this announcement lies China's desire to “[position itself] as an alternative to the U.S. as the two vie for influence over the transformative technology”.
In a speech that was highly anticipated, Li Qiang defended the notion that artificial intelligence ought not to be the domain of a select few nations or the major companies of the S&P 500 — an index that can be tracked on the SPX chart — like Apple or Google, but should instead be commonly used and accessible to all of humanity.
Consequently, Beijing intends to establish a global AI cooperation organization, with its base in Shanghai, which would be made up of:
-
Governments
-
Universities and research institutes
-
Technology companies
-
NGOs and international organizations
This appears to be only the initial phase of what could evolve into an international organization — like Interpol or the International Atomic Energy Agency — and it would offer a foundation for dealing with the present lack of global cohesion.
China's initiative is to try to bring order to the muddled world of AI regulations. At present, the disunited global AI superpowers are working at cross-purposes.
-
The United States is betting on the self-regulation of Big Tech, with an emphasis on national security and strategic competition.
-
The European Union has adopted its AI Act, one of the first binding legislative frameworks in the world.
-
China imposes strong regulations on algorithms and content, but seeks to export its own vision of AI.
Given this fragmented landscape, Beijing is pushing for global AI standards where it could play a leading role.
This organization would not just be a dialogue space for the major powers. Beijing aims to get the nations of the Global South fully on board, providing them with:
-
Open-source, Chinese AI innovations, such as the DeepSeek or Alibaba Qwen models
-
Bilateral cooperation on training, data, and technology transfer
-
Diplomacy is backing to contend with the technological dominance of Western countries
This could allow China to become a champion of "ethical and accessible" AI — in contrast to the perceived dominance of the GAFAM — and to consolidate its soft power accordingly.
An architecture inspired by the UN
According to documents presented at WAIC, the future organization could take shape along 13 different strategic axes, among which include:
-
Setting up a lasting mechanism for dialogue between nations and specialists
-
Establishing a new global working group on the security of generative AI
-
A worldwide ethical structure for the responsible use of artificial intelligence
-
Initiatives and programs for interoperability and technical standardization
Such a structure would be intended to complement the UN, not to compete with it. Yet some analysts see it as a Chinese attempt to create somewhat of a counter-model to Western-dominated forums, such as the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) or the G7 meetings.
The geopolitical context in which this proposal emerges must not be ignored. Since 2022, the United States has imposed heavy restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors to China.
In response, China is building a robust local AI ecosystem and directing its gaze toward cooperation with BRICS countries, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Beijing is making an all-out effort to catch up in the production of cutting-edge chips, which are necessary for creating large AI models trained to perform complex tasks. Despite its ambition, the project presents a number of issues.
Legitimacy? Western countries, wary of Beijing's intentions, might refuse to participate.
Standards? For instance, the ethical and legal perspectives on AI are quite different between the EU and China (especially when it comes to matters of surveillance and privacy).
Funding? An organization that relies too heavily on Beijing (or any other country) may not be able to operate independently.
With this proposal, China is establishing itself as an important actor in the global governance of artificial intelligence. Through this initiative, it hopes to mobilize developing nations against the dominance of Western tech corporations.
Should the project succeed, it could, for decades to come, rewrite some rules of the international technological arena.
Whether this will succeed, however, depends on China's ability to convince other major players to embrace this new international framework.
