China pledges continued role in global AI governance

International AI cooperation gains momentum with China promoting stronger governance and risk management.

Frontier AI challenges encourage China to support coordinated international governance and regulatory cooperation.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has said China will continue to participate in global governance on AI responsibly and constructively.

Li made the remarks during the opening plenary of the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as Summer Davos, in Dalian.

According to the Chinese government’s account of the speech, Li said China would work with other parties to strengthen institutional frameworks and rules, improve regulatory effectiveness and address potential AI risks.

He said AI has significantly improved innovation efficiency, but warned that risks linked to technological loss of control and ethical failures are becoming more pronounced.

Li said governance needs to keep pace with AI development, warning that the consequences could be severe if regulatory systems fail to keep to with the pace of technological change.

The remarks underline China’s continued effort to position itself as a participant in international AI governance debates, while also linking AI regulation to broader questions of innovation, economic development and global cooperation.

Why does it matter?

Li’s remarks show that AI governance remains part of China’s wider diplomatic and economic positioning. As frontier AI advances, governments are treating safety, ethics and regulatory coordination as strategic issues alongside competition over models, compute and industrial capacity. The speech does not introduce a new Chinese AI policy, but it reinforces Beijing’s message that global AI governance should involve international coordination rather than being shaped only by a few countries or companies.

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