China's planning agency floats AI cooperation plan as Xi opens Shanghai summit

China’s top economic planning body has released an eight-point plan designed to increase international cooperation on artificial intelligence. 

The plan was published the same day President Xi Jinping gave a keynote speech, pushing for a China-led way of governing AI at a Shanghai summit 

What does the NRDC’s plan ask for? 

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has published an eight-point plan called the “AI Cooperation Development Action Plan” on its website. The eight points highlight areas where Beijing wants other governments to work with it, such as data, computing power, open-source models, industrial applications, talent, technical standards, safety governance and AI ethics.

On safety, the plan calls for countries to build a shared system for governing AI. It also asks for cooperation on sharing information about cybersecurity threats and responding to emergencies, to prevent AI misuse or abuse. The plan also calls for joint research to make AI models easier to understand, more open, and more secure.

The NDRC wants to make it easier to move data across borders using “trusted data spaces” in some industries. It also wants countries to build shared training data in multiple languages. 

The plan calls for cheaper, more open computing services for developing countries, powered by clean energy and supports open-source communities that share general AI models, tools, and code with everyone. It also pushes for “AI+” programs that use AI in science, factories, healthcare, schools, farming, and government.

Two other parts of the plan focus on people and rules. One calls for joint programs to train AI workers and set common skills standards while the other calls for a shared standards system so that different countries’ AI rules can work together instead of clashing.

The last part of the plan, called “AI for good,” promises to follow ethics rules on privacy and human control over AI. It also promises to fight bias in AI systems and frames China as a country that gives free science and technology help to developing nations, in support of the United Nations’ 2030 development goals.

What did President Xi Jinping suggest in his speech? 

On the same day the NRDC’s plan was published, the 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) opened in Shanghai. The conference will run from July 17 to July 20 and is expected to be one of the largest AI events in the world. 

Cryptopolitan reported that the event would fill more than 100,000 square meters of exhibition space, draw over 1,100 companies and stage more than 300 product debuts.

During his opening speech, President Xi Jinping offered “four observations” and urged for open-source teamwork, laws and emergency systems to keep AI “under human control,” respect for different cultures and countries, and a bigger role for the United Nations in AI rules. 

Xi said China helped create the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai and said it would help unite countries around AI development and rules. He also said that China’s core AI-driven economy is worth at least 1 trillion yuan ($147 billion), based on past NDRC figures. 

In a May 2026 essay for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, researcher Arindrajit Basu wrote that instead of just exporting infrastructure and tech standards, Beijing is now trying to influence the rules and institutions that govern AI around the world. 

Basu pointed out that Premier Li Qiang first announced China’s Global AI Governance Action Plan and the idea for WAICO back in July 2025.

Meanwhile, China recently completed the first phase of its “Qinglang” cleanup that began in April 2026. Cryptopolitan reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China removed more than 14,000 AI products, suspended over 26,000 accounts and pulled nine open-source datasets it deemed illegal. The scheme’s second phase promises heavier penalties.

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