A view of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 26, 2025. Zhang Weilan/GT

The 2025 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance is being held in Shanghai from Saturday to Monday. More than 1,200 guests from over 40 countries and international organizations are participating in the event, and more than 800 companies are showcasing over 3,000 cutting-edge exhibits and new products to the world through this window. After a year, this "AI feast" has once again attracted global attention, demonstrating the vigorous vitality of "Global Solidarity in the AI Era."

"Tech firms huge and small will converge in Shanghai to showcase their artificial intelligence innovations" - this is how Reuters reported the influence and appeal of the conference. Tesla's humanoid robots, Siemens' AI industrial assistants, AI glasses developed by Chinese companies that can navigate, and "robot groups" that can do housework - a wide variety of exhibits showcases the world's imagination of AI development and application. 

Many foreign exhibitors praised the rapid development of China's AI and actively exchanged development experiences. This conference is not only a window for displaying achievements, but also allows people to see that in the collision of ideas across national boundaries and in the immense demand of the world's people for a better life, technology is accelerating in the direction of being closer to human needs.

AI is not the exclusive domain of a particular country or group. Accordingly, its governance rules should be established by the whole world. However, the AI Preparedness Index developed by the International Monetary Fund shows that as of April 2024, the index for advanced economies is 0.68, while that for emerging market economies and low-income countries is 0.46 and 0.32 respectively. At the same time, data abuse and privacy leakage, algorithmic bias and discrimination, and how to cultivate "good AI" that will not take power from humans are all common problems faced by humanity. It has become a consensus among most countries to promote global governance of AI - "global solidarity" is needed, rather than "small yard and high fences." 

Following the release of the Shanghai Declaration on Global AI Governance last year, the conference released an action plan for global AI governance this year, calling on all parties to work together to promote global AI development and governance. The Chinese government also made a major proposal to create a global AI cooperation organization. In addition, China also worked with other countries to promote the adoption by consensus of a resolution on strengthening international cooperation in AI capacity-building at the 78th United Nations General Assembly. 

This series of measures represents China's proactive resolution and positive response to the "rule deficit" in global AI governance, highlighting China's value pursuit of mutual benefit. People can see that the "Chinese solution" is not some "exclusive secret," but rather a public good that promotes the true benefits of AI for humanity.

From initiative to practice, China's philosophy of "promoting global solidarity" remains consistent. Earlier this year, DeepSeek gained popularity both domestically and internationally due to its characteristics of "low cost + high performance + open source." Following its lead, several Chinese large models have also been open-sourced.

The facts prove that this path injects vitality into global AI innovation, facilitates rapid iteration and sharing of technology, and helps innovative ideas quickly take root. For example, during the post-earthquake rescue in Myanmar, relevant parties used DeepSeek to develop a Chinese-Myanmar-English translation system within seven hours. China's AI "wings" have also supported the efficient operation of Brazil's power grid, South Africa's railways, and Thailand's mining areas. China's perspective on AI development through "promoting global solidarity" builds a "warm ladder" for countries around the world, especially those in the Global South, allowing them to see the promising prospect for bridging the "digital divide" and empowering economic development in the intelligent era.

Many media outlets have also noted the starkly different methodologies between China and the US in the development of AI. Just a few days ago, the White House released an "AI Action Plan," which includes further tightening of export controls on AI chips to China. The US remains trapped in a zero-sum mind-set, pursuing a fantasy of maintaining AI hegemony through technological blockades. CNBC quoted an analyst who stated, "China clearly wants to stick to the multilateral approach while the US wants to build its own camp." In this regard, some American politicians are advised to consider the opinions of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the World AI Conference, where he stated that the US and China should collaborate to keep the world stable and peaceful. Additionally, some US media outlets believe that emphasis on "closed-source" and so-called "security," coupled with its wariness of China, will cause the US to "yield" its AI leadership position. In fact, both the US and China have their respective comparative advantages in the field of AI, but they have long been deeply integrated within the same global technology supply chain, and there is significant potential for cooperation.

"We should step up international governance and cooperation on AI, to make sure that AI is for good and for all, not a game of the rich countries and the wealthy." Whether from a development or governance perspective, there is a need to enhance international cooperation on AI. China's advocated philosophy of "promoting global solidarity" is a hard-core action to bridge the "digital divide" and achieve "technological equity," as well as an important part of practicing multilateralism. We look forward to more countries joining the path of innovative cooperation and collaborative governance to create an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, secure, and reliable digital and intelligent future for humanity.