-CGTN: China commits to turning AI into an engine of shared prosperity amid growing gap in AI stuff
/PRNewswire/ –As Pakistan enters its annual monsoon season, accurate forecasts are crucial to protecting lives and livelihoods. Powered by artificial intelligence, China’s MAZU weather system is helping Pakistan detect early warning signals and issue faster alerts about potential extreme weather events.
“Using this platform, we can make more accurate predictions of floods, droughts and other extreme weather events,” said Furrukh Bashir, head of the Research and Development Department at the Pakistan Meteorological Department. “We hope to see more products like this that can benefit people around the world.”
Deployed in several countries, the system demonstrates how AI can help address global challenges. Through open source models, technological cooperation and international initiatives, China is working to make AI more accessible and ensure its benefits reach more people around the world.
At the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on countries to maintain a people-centered approach and work together to build a fair and inclusive global AI governance system.
“China, as a responsible great power, is always committed to providing AI-related international public goods,” Xi said.
Turning AI into a shared opportunity through openness
At the conference, Xi announced a series of measures to support the global development of AI, including assisting 30 countries in the use of the MAZU weather system, offering 5,000 AI training opportunities for developing countries over the next five years, and establishing international cooperation centers for the application of AI with ASEAN, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.
China has also pushed open source development to promote more inclusive global AI growth.
Chinese models such as DeepSeek and Alibaba’s Qwen have captured global attention for their high efficiency, affordability and openness, allowing developers and companies to adopt AI technologies at lower costs. Official data shows that China’s open source AI models have recently exceeded 10 billion cumulative downloads worldwide.
In Africa, for example, DeepSeek’s open source approach allows developers to freely download and optimize AI systems, helping to strengthen local digital capabilities and foster indigenous innovation across the continent.
This approach has also significantly reduced costs. Priced at just $0.27 per million input tokens and $1.10 per million output tokens, DeepSeek has reduced barriers to entry by over 90% compared to some conventional Western AI models, enabling more African users and businesses to participate in digital transformation.
“China, as a developing country, understands the aspirations of many countries in the Global South in economic development and technological progress,” said Zhang Weiwei, deputy director of the Institute of World Peace and Security Studies at the Chinese Institute of International Studies.
Zhang noted that China’s open source AI models allow countries to develop applications faster and at lower cost, making it easier for more developing nations to benefit from technological advancement.
Promoting global cooperation to bridge the AI gap
With the rapid development of AI technologies, the global gap in this field is widening. The World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025 highlighted important differences between high-income and low- and middle-income countries in AI systems and computing capacity. Meanwhile, global data center resources remain highly concentrated in developed economies, with Africa accounting for less than 1% of global capacity.
To address these widening gaps, Xi called on countries to help developing nations improve AI capabilities, close the digital divide, and build a globally accepted governance framework to ensure that emerging technologies benefit humanity as a whole.
China has long advocated for a fair and inclusive global AI governance system. In 2023, it proposed the Global AI Governance Initiative, followed by the AI Capacity Building for Good and All Action Plan in 2024 and the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative in 2025. These efforts aim to promote the responsible development of AI and help close the digital divide.
China has also worked to create platforms for international cooperation. Launched the Center for Innovative Global AI Governance (CGAIG) and the Group of Friends for International Cooperation on AI Capacity Building, bringing together countries to strengthen dialogue, share knowledge and improve capacity development.
The signing of the agreement establishing the World Organization for Cooperation in Artificial Intelligence in Shanghai on Thursday marked another step towards advancing global cooperation in AI and promoting the safe, equitable and beneficial development of artificial intelligence.
From open source models and AI training programs to global governance initiatives, China is working to turn artificial intelligence into a shared engine of innovation and development, ensuring that the benefits of this transformative technology, previously enjoyed only by a few, reach more countries and communities.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-07-17/China-vows-to-make-AI-a-driver-for-shared-prosperity-amid-AI-gap-1OQR3INoGdy/p.html