China Issues Global AI Governance Action Plan at World AI Conference
Summary
On July 28, 2025, Premier Li Qiang announced China's Global AI Governance Action Plan at the World AI Conference in Shanghai. The 13-point roadmap proposed an international AI governance framework centered on state sovereignty, developing-country inclusion, and non-interference principles — positioning China as an alternative governance anchor to the US and EU models. The announcement included a proposal to establish a World AI Cooperation Organization headquartered in Shanghai, intended to serve as a counterweight to Western-led governance initiatives.
What Happened
China's Global AI Governance Action Plan was released on the sidelines of the World AI Conference, an annual event held in Shanghai that serves as China's premier AI showcase. Premier Li Qiang's keynote framed AI governance as an issue of global equity: powerful nations should not be permitted to impose governance frameworks that entrench their technological advantages.
The 13-point plan's key provisions included: a principle of AI sovereignty permitting states to regulate AI development within their borders without external interference; a commitment to sharing AI capabilities and infrastructure with developing nations; a proposal for an international AI safety and oversight body operating under UN auspices rather than through Western-dominated institutions; opposition to AI technology export controls that Beijing characterized as "technological protectionism"; and a formal proposal for the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) to be established in Shanghai as a hub for multilateral AI governance.
The plan built on China's earlier governance documents — the 2023 Global AI Governance Initiative and the AI safety proposals advanced at the G20 — but was more specific and institution-building in its ambitions. China's domestic AI regulatory framework, including its 2023 generative AI regulations and 2024 algorithm recommendations rules, was presented as a model other states could adapt.
The announcement came five days after the Trump administration released its own AI Action Plan, and the rhetorical contrast was explicit: while the US plan emphasized competition and national advantage, China's plan emphasized cooperation, equity, and multilateralism — categories that resonated with non-aligned and developing countries.
Why It Matters
China's governance initiative represented a sophisticated three-level play. At the domestic level, it legitimized China's existing AI regulatory framework by presenting it as a model for others. At the bilateral level, it created an alternative to US-led AI partnerships for countries that resent American technology dominance. At the multilateral level, it proposed institutions that could absorb international AI governance discussions away from existing Western-dominated forums.
The WAICO proposal was the most novel element. If established, it would create a parallel governance structure — similar to how China has built alternatives to Western-led financial institutions through the AIIB and BRICS mechanisms. Whether the organization would gain sufficient membership to be consequential depended on how many governments were willing to participate in a China-led forum.
The governance competition framing — US acceleration model vs. EU regulatory model vs. Chinese multilateral-sovereignty model — crystallized what had been implicit: there was no convergent global AI governance regime forming. Three distinct philosophies were competing for adherents, and the outcome would shape the regulatory environment for AI development globally for a decade or more.
China's specific emphasis on developing-country inclusion also reflected a calculation about where governance battles could be won: if the Global South could be enrolled in a China-led governance framework, Western attempts to establish binding universal standards would face structural resistance.