Seventy years ago, the concept of artificial intelligence emerged for the first time. The audacious conceptions of brilliant scientists are now being realized one after another. Artificial intelligence technology is sweeping through and reshaping the world with an unstoppable force.
In July this year, the Huangpu River emerged as the epicenter of the global artificial intelligence community once again. The 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, themed "AI Partnership For a Brighter Future", was held in Shanghai, China. "We should ensure that AI is an important driver for shared prosperity and common security. We should join hands to build a just and equitable system for global AI governance." Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the conference and delivered a keynote address, offering Chinese wisdom and infusing fresh momentum into the development of global AI.
This conference stands as one of the most extensive and highly influential international gatherings within the global artificial intelligence sector. It convenes over 1,100 enterprises from across the globe, presenting over 3,000 pioneering technological advancements and unveiling more than 300 cutting-edge products globally for the first time.
The concept of "Tangible, Operable, Practicable" AI emerged as the central theme of the conference. Wearable smart devices became favorites for attendees, with portable personal terminals such as AI glasses and AI headphones unveiled in rapid succession. The AI-powered smart headphones, co-developed by Alibaba Group and BOSE Audio, exhibit capabilities including real-time voice interaction, intelligent ambient noise cancellation, and multi-modal sensing, by harnessing the capability of the Qianwen large model. Embodied intelligent robots across the exhibition hall have transitioned from being exhibits to serving as co-workers. At crossroads, humanoid traffic control robots have officially commenced their duties, working shoulder-to-shoulder with traffic police. In residential neighborhoods, tea-serving robots prepare and pour tea for patrons, and table tennis robots exchange skill with visitors. In pharmacies, multiple robots autonomously cooperate to handle the entire process, from receiving online orders to dispensing and packaging medications. AI has undergone a complete transition from virtual algorithms to tangible applications, profoundly transforming human modes of production and living, and propelling people's daily lives swiftly into the future.
In recent years, China has proactively embraced the advancement of AI, fostering a holistic and systematic enhancement in its overall AI capabilities.
The AI industry has witnessed exponential growth. By 2025, the scale of China's core AI industries exceeded $180 billion with over 6,200 enterprises. Notable strides have been made in the high-end progression of the industrial chain. In the first half of this year alone, the production volume of integrated circuits by China's industrial enterprises above designated size surged by 23.1%, reaching 279.8 billion pieces, with an average daily output exceeding 1.5 billion pieces. The launch of new AI products continues. In 2025, the annual shipment volume of intelligent terminals such as AI-enabled phones and computers in China is over 100 million units. Native applications, including AI agents and embodied intelligence, have evolved with unique characteristics. China's daily Token calls reaches several hundred trillion, and the annual production of humanoid robots will exceed 100,000 units. Digital infrastructure has been consolidated, giving rise to 8 national computing power hubs, 10 national computing power clusters, and 3 regions dedicated to the coordinated development of computing and electricity. By March this year, the computing power capacity had reached 1,882 EFLOPS (2.5 times that of the corresponding period last year), accompanied by over 116,000 high-quality datasets and a data volume surpassing 960PB, thereby effectively enhancing the training and inference capabilities of large models. The industrial ecosystem continues to be optimized, with the $9 billion National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund expediting its operations and driving social capital to enhance its support for the industry. The open-source model has been widely adopted, with the cumulative global downloads of China's open-source large models surpassing 10 billion, representing 41% of the world total, and open-source communities such as AtomGit boasting a user base exceeding 11 million. In July this year, the Kimi K3 (open-source large model) was published, featuring a staggering 2.8 trillion parameters and establishing itself as the world's largest open-source AI model. AI is empowering a multitude of industries. Leveraging its abundant application scenarios, China is advancing the profound integration of AI with the economy and society, with the overall AI penetration rate in key industries exceeding 80%. In the manufacturing sector, the adoption rate of AI applications among industrial enterprises above designated size in China exceeds 30%, and humanoid robots have entered factories and workshops.
These figures reflect the robust vitality and tremendous potential inherent in the development of China's artificial intelligence industry.
However, opportunities and challenges have always coexisted. Confronted with the questions posed by our times: "How to get along with thinking machines? How to ensure security when algorithm is part of decision making? How to tackle ethical challenges by technologies through adaptive governance? How to realize AI for all when the divide keeps widening?", Chinese President Xi Jinping offered China's propositions and solutions.
We should adhere to the principle of openness and win-win and boost innovation-driven development. As a new engine of world economic growth and an accelerator for the shift of growth drivers, AI is moving from the digital world into the physical world. We should seize this rare, historic opportunity to encourage open source, openness, collaboration and sharing. We should facilitate technological innovation, industrial development and scenario-based application of AI. We should make coordinated advances in the transformation and upgrade of traditional industries, the cultivation and growth of emerging industries and forward-looking planning for future industries, so that all sectors and businesses can benefit from AI.
We should strengthen risk-awareness and ensure that AI is secure and controllable. AI should be a trusted tool for humanity. We should take seriously the various types of inherent and secondary risks that AI may trigger. We should put in place laws and regulations, technological monitoring, early warning and emergency response systems in order to strengthen the line of security, prevent abuses and malicious use, and ensure that AI is always under human control. In the meantime, we should jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI and placing one country's security over that of others.
We should encourage inclusiveness and promote mutual learning among civilizations. AI development and its application should not erode or undermine the diversity of world civilizations or the uniqueness of different cultures. We must shape the values of AI with humanity's common values, and make good use of AI technologies to increase understanding, tolerance, exchanges, and sharing among all civilizations. We should tend to the garden of civilizations with great care to ensure that the beauty of each civilization is appreciated and shared.
We should advocate solidarity and improve global governance. AI is an invaluable asset that encapsulates humanity's collective wisdom. We should practice true multilateralism and uphold the important role of the United Nations. We should enhance alignment and coordination on AI development strategies, governance rules and technical standards, so as to form a consensus-based global governance framework at an early date to make this frontier technology better benefit humanity. We must carry out extensive international cooperation and help Global South countries with capacity building to bridge the AI and digital divides, promote sustainable development, and prevent creating new historical injustice in AI.
Guided by these four propositions, China, as a responsible leading nation in AI, will consistently adhere to the Global AI Governance Initiative, spare no effort to provide international public goods to the international community, and engage in international exchanges and cooperation on AI with an open, inclusive, and constructive stance. China will collaborate with fellow founding member states to advance the establishment of the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), construct a collaborative platform for nations worldwide, and offer systematic solutions aimed at enhancing the global AI governance framework.
China and Israel are Innovative Comprehensive Partners, boasting complementary advantages and distinctive characteristics within the AI industry. Israel has made notable achievements in original innovation, practical exploration of technologies, and the cultivation of high-caliber talent in AI. China excels in application market deployment, data resource development, and Industrial chain supply. The collaboration between China and Israel in technological innovation for AI governance not only aligns with the inherent rules of technological progress but also represents a mutually beneficial choice propelled by economic imperatives.
As the Chinese Ambassador to Israel, I sincerely hope that China and Israel will seize this opportunity, adhere to the principle of joint contribution and shared benefits, enhance international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, and work together to advance AI governance, ensuring that innovative development truly benefits the peoples of both nations. China warmly welcomes more Israeli enterprises to participate in the annual World AI Conference held in Shanghai and the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, where we can jointly explore innovations in cutting-edge AI technology and discuss solutions for global AI governance.
At present, as profound changes unseen in a century evolve at an accelerated rate, traditional and non-traditional threats become increasingly intertwined, China stands ready to collaborate with all parties, including Israel, in exploring cooperative governance approaches in the emerging field of artificial intelligence, contributing efforts to advancing regional stability, global development, and a shared future for all humanity.
Xiao Junzheng is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of The People's Republic of China to the State of Israel
