China Opens WAIC 2026 in Shanghai with Xi Jinping's First Keynote
The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference opened in Shanghai on 17 July 2026, running through 20 July at the city's National Exhibition and Convention Centre. The conference's defining distinction from its seven prior editions is that Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered the opening keynote in person — his first live attendance at WAIC since the annual event was established in 2018. The decision to appear is not procedural: it signals Beijing's elevation of AI from a technology portfolio priority to a top-tier national and geopolitical strategy. Alongside the conference, a High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance positioned WAIC 2026 simultaneously as China's flagship AI industry showcase and a formal diplomatic forum for contested international AI rule-setting.
The conference drew heads of government and international institution leaders in numbers exceeding previous editions. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet, and Thailand Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul were among the attendees. The composition of delegations reflects a deliberate outreach beyond Western democracies to Global South governments, which China has positioned as underrepresented in existing international AI governance conversations led by the OECD, G7, and EU AI Act frameworks.
Xi's Keynote: People-Centred AI and New Historical Injustices
Xi Jinping's keynote address introduced two themes that crystallised China's position on global AI governance. The first was a people-centred framing of AI development — a formulation designed to contrast with a safety-centred Western model and to place the primary measure of AI's value on its benefit to people's lives rather than on risk management and liability. The second was a direct equity argument: Xi called on the international community to prevent AI from creating new historical injustices by concentrating its benefits in wealthy nations while leaving developing countries dependent on AI systems they did not build, do not control, and cannot meaningfully influence.
The equity framing is both principled and strategic. China has positioned itself as the primary alternative to a US-led AI order that governs access to frontier models through export controls, trusted-partner frameworks, and cloud infrastructure routing through US-domiciled providers. Xi announced that China plans to cooperate with international bodies across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and BRICS nations on AI capacity building — training, compute access, and open-weight model sharing — translating that position into specific programme commitments.
The World AI Cooperation Organisation: China's Institutional Gambit
The most consequential structural proposal at WAIC 2026 is the World AI Cooperation Organisation, or WAICO, which China first proposed at last year's conference and now formally advocates establishing in Shanghai. WAICO is designed in the institutional mould of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: a multilateral body in which China plays a founding role, membership skews toward Global South governments, and governance structures give participating nations a formal voice in shaping AI standards and norms that existing Western-led bodies have not offered at the intergovernmental level.
The pitch to prospective members is concrete: access to open-weight AI models, technical cooperation on infrastructure and training, and a formal seat at a governance table. The US and EU equivalent framework — access to frontier AI through commercial agreements with American companies, subject to export controls restricting what technology reaches which governments — has not replicated this offer for most of the world's countries.
China's AI Governance Model Versus the Western Approach
The Western approach to AI governance, led by the EU AI Act and the US framework for Safe AI development, centres on safety, explainability, and liability — frameworks built on the premise that controlling risk is the primary obligation of AI developers and deployers. China's model, as articulated at WAIC 2026, prioritises development pace, equity of access, and state-directed oversight over autonomous risk-classification regimes. The two models are now competing for adoption across countries deciding which governance framework, and which AI supply chain, to align with.
What WAIC 2026 Means for India's AI Position
India occupies a structurally significant position in the governance contest WAIC 2026 represents. As a founding BRICS member, a major non-Western technology economy, and simultaneously a Quad participant and G20 technology governance contributor, India has active relationships with both governance blocs. China's courtship of BRICS AI cooperation and its offer of open-weight models and compute access to Global South governments creates a direct question for India's AI strategy: whether to align primarily with Western supply-chain and governance frameworks, develop indigenous alternatives through the IndiaAI Mission, or engage selectively with open-weight models regardless of their provenance.
For Indian software and AI product companies, WAIC 2026 reinforces a practical point already visible in the market: the two-superpower AI race produces dual supply chains, and Indian teams building AI products increasingly evaluate models, infrastructure, and governance obligations across both. Chinese open-weight models including DeepSeek and ByteDance's Seedream family are in active use in Indian development contexts. The governance conversation at WAIC 2026 will shape whether and on what terms that access continues.
The Bottom Line
The 2026 World AI Conference opened in Shanghai on 17 July 2026 with Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering the opening keynote in person — his first live attendance since the event launched in 2018. Xi's address emphasised a people-centred approach to AI development and committed China to AI cooperation with BRICS, Africa, Latin America, and Asia to prevent concentrating AI benefits in wealthy nations. China has formally proposed the World AI Cooperation Organisation, to be headquartered in Shanghai, as a multilateral governance body giving Global South governments a formal voice in AI rule-setting. The conference runs through 20 July 2026, paired with a High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance attended by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. WAIC 2026 marks China's clearest institutional statement that it intends to be a rule-maker, not a rule-taker, in global AI governance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the World AI Conference 2026 and what made it historically significant?+
The 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) opened in Shanghai on 17 July 2026 and runs through 20 July at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre. It is China's flagship annual AI event, launched in 2018. WAIC 2026 is historically significant because Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered the opening keynote in person for the first time since the event began — a deliberate signal that Beijing treats AI leadership as a top-tier national and geopolitical priority. The conference was paired with a High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance attended by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and government leaders from Southeast Asia. The event combined China's AI industry showcase with a formal diplomatic forum for international AI rule-setting.
What did Xi Jinping say in his WAIC 2026 keynote address?+
Xi Jinping's keynote at WAIC 2026 advanced two principal themes. First, a people-centred framing of AI development — emphasising that AI's value should be measured by its benefit to people's lives rather than primarily by risk management frameworks. Second, an equity argument: Xi called for preventing AI from creating new historical injustices by concentrating benefits in wealthy nations while developing countries remain dependent on AI systems they did not build and cannot govern. He announced specific cooperation commitments with BRICS nations, Africa, Latin America, and Asia on AI capacity building, open-weight model access, training, and compute infrastructure sharing.
What is the World AI Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) that China proposed at WAIC 2026?+
The World AI Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) is a multilateral AI governance body that China first proposed at the 2025 WAIC and formally advocated at the 2026 edition. China proposes to headquarter WAICO in Shanghai. The organisation is modelled on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and is designed to give Global South governments a formal seat in shaping AI standards, norms, and development frameworks — a role that existing Western-led AI governance bodies such as the OECD, G7 AI guidelines, and EU AI Act processes have not extended to most of the world's countries. China's pitch pairs the governance institution with concrete offers: access to Chinese open-weight AI models, technical training cooperation, and AI infrastructure assistance.
What does WAIC 2026 mean for India's position in the global AI landscape?+
WAIC 2026 crystallises the two-superpower AI competition that Indian teams and policymakers must navigate. India has relationships with both blocs: as a BRICS founding member it is a target of China's Global South AI cooperation offer; as a Quad member and G20 technology governance participant it is also part of the Western-aligned framework. China's active outreach at WAIC 2026 — offering open-weight models, compute access, and a governance role through WAICO — creates both a supply-chain option and a governance alignment question for India's AI strategy. For Indian product teams, the practical implication is that Chinese open-weight models and Western proprietary models are both available, and the choice of which to build on increasingly carries policy and compliance implications beyond the technical performance comparison.
Written by
TechPillow Team
Sharing insights on technology, product development, and the Indian tech ecosystem.