China is advancing a global strategy centered on artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen ties with developing countries and challenge the existing US-led technological and geopolitical order. At the World AI Conference held in Shanghai last week, President Xi Jinping outlined a vision positioning China as a leader in AI development and cooperation, highlighting plans to expand access to AI technologies and training through new multilateral initiatives.

Central to Xi’s proposal is the creation of the World AI Cooperation Organisation (Waico), a 29-member body aimed at fostering international collaboration on AI application and standards. Complementing this effort, China has committed to making AI tools broadly available via open-source platforms and intends to establish “application co-operation centres” that will train thousands of professionals from the developing world to utilize these technologies effectively.

This move is widely interpreted as part of Beijing’s broader effort to fill the leadership void left by the United States in international governance and technology sectors. Analysts note that China has steadily built an ecosystem of institutions, agreements, and initiatives over the past decade to extend its influence, with the AI strategy representing one of its most ambitious ventures to date.

Observers emphasize that assuming leadership in AI could allow China to shape the global norms and ethical frameworks governing emerging technologies, paralleling how American liberal values influenced the original design of the internet. Arindrajit Basu, a doctoral researcher at Leiden University, said Beijing aims to “reform the core norms that underpin the way we see and understand the world and the way we understand technology,” leveraging AI’s potential to rewrite global standards.

China’s AI diplomacy follows earlier projects such as the “Digital Silk Road,” launched in 2015 as part of its Belt and Road programme. The Digital Silk Road focuses on developing telecommunications infrastructure, cloud computing, and other high-tech sectors in approximately one-third of the Belt and Road countries. The initiative has helped Chinese companies export AI-related technologies and expertise, particularly across Asia.

A significant milestone in this trajectory occurred in January 2025 with the so-called “DeepSeek moment,” when a Chinese firm successfully contested the United States’ dominance in large language model development. Since then, references to AI have become more frequent in diplomatic interactions between China’s leadership and foreign officials, reflecting its rising prominence within Beijing’s foreign policy.

China has also launched regional cooperation mechanisms such as the China-ASEAN Countries Artificial Intelligence Application Cooperation Center, aimed at accelerating AI infrastructure development, providing open-source tools, and fostering talent across Southeast Asia.

Taken together, these moves indicate Beijing’s intent to establish an alternative global AI order that may offer developing countries new opportunities but also deepen their technological dependence on China, potentially reshaping the balance of power in the digital age.