Xi Jinping outlines AI governance at Shanghai's World AI Conference

President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote at the opening of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and the High‑Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, held July 17‑20. He outlined four guiding observations: openness and win‑win cooperation, heightened risk awareness and human‑centric control of AI, inclusion and mutual learning among civilizations, and solidarity to improve global AI governance under the United Nations.

The conference attracted more than 1,100 companies, showcased roughly 4,500 exhibits and featured 349 product launches, marking a record scale. International executives highlighted China’s strong AI ecosystem, noting advances in embodied AI, health‑care drug discovery, cosmetics, autonomous logistics and robotics. Chinese firm Honor unveiled the world’s first “Robot Phone,” a smartphone with a mechanical gimbal that can track subjects, recognize faces and even dance to music. AI chip maker 爱芯元智 introduced its new “元曦” series of high‑performance inference chips and edge AI platforms for industry, education and consumer devices.

Academic commentator Gilles Brassard warned that future quantum computers could retrospectively decrypt historic data, underscoring the need for post‑quantum security. At a specialist forum, Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Gao Wen reported that China’s national computing‑network (算力网) has completed 70 % of its first‑phase integration, with full public access expected in the next decade. Leaders from Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Thailand and U.N. Secretary‑General António Guterres also addressed the opening, emphasizing multilateral cooperation.