Xi to outline China’s AI diplomacy vision at Shanghai forum

Xi Jinping is set to attend the opening ceremony of the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai and deliver a keynote speech, giving Beijing a prominent stage to present its artificial intelligence diplomacy vision. The appearance would be Xi’s first at the World AI Conference and signals that China wants the forum to carry more than commercial weight.

The speech comes as China tries to frame AI as both an economic engine at home and a pillar of foreign policy abroad. That push has sharpened alongside competition with the United States over advanced chips, AI models, data governance and the standards that will govern the next generation of digital infrastructure. Beijing’s message is aimed well beyond its borders: AI, Chinese officials have argued, should not be monopolized by a small group of wealthy countries or firms, and global coordination is needed on safety, access and development.

The institutional groundwork for that pitch has been building for more than a year. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Premier Li Qiang proposed creating an international organization for AI cooperation. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs then published a Global AI Governance Action Plan, turning the governance push into a more formal policy framework. Together, the moves show Beijing trying to move from broad language about cooperation to specific proposals for how the global AI order should be organized.

Shanghai has become the showcase for that effort. The municipal government said the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance would run from July 26 to 28 across the Expo Center, the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center and the West Bund area in Xuhui district. Another official notice described 70,000 square meters of exhibition space as a record, underscoring the scale of the city’s ambitions as a hub for technology diplomacy as well as industrial policy.

The practical stakes are wide-ranging. Any signal from Xi on AI cooperation could shape how Chinese firms approach overseas partnerships, how regulators handle cross-border data issues and how foreign governments read Beijing’s intentions on standards. For developing countries, the appeal is clear: China is offering a model built around infrastructure, access and multilateral governance rather than the tighter export controls and technology alliances associated with Washington. The Shanghai forum now gives Xi a chance to argue that China should help write the rules before the global AI order hardens into rival blocs.