/PRNewswire/ — As Pakistan enters the monsoon season, accurate forecasts are essential to protect lives and livelihoods. Using artificial intelligence, China’s MAZU weather system helps Pakistan detect warning signs and issue alerts more quickly when there are risks of extreme weather events.
“Using this platform, we can make more accurate forecasts for floods, droughts and other extreme weather events,” says Furrukh Bashir, head of the Research and Development Department of the Pakistan Meteorological Department. “We look forward to discovering more products like this that could benefit people around the world.” »
Deployed in several countries, this system shows 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 Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the High-level Meeting on Global AI Governance held in Shanghai on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on countries to adopt a human-centered approach and work together to establish a global governance system for fair and inclusive AI.
“China, as a responsible major power, has always been committed to providing international AI-related public assets,” Xi said.
Making AI an opportunity for all through openness
At the conference, Xi announced a series of measures to support the global development of AI, including helping 30 countries use the MAZU weather system, providing 5,000 AI training courses to developing countries over the next five years, and establishing international centers for cooperation on AI applications with ASEAN, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS.
China has also engaged in open source development to foster more inclusive global growth in AI.
Chinese models such as Alibaba’s DeepSeek and Qwen have attracted global attention with their high efficiency, affordability and openness, allowing developers and businesses to adopt AI technologies at lower costs. Official data indicates that Chinese open source AI models recently exceeded ten billion cumulative downloads globally.
In Africa, for example, DeepSeek’s open source approach allows developers to freely upload and adjust AI systems, helping to build local digital capabilities and foster local innovation across the continent.
This approach also significantly reduced costs. With a cost of just $0.27 per million input tokens and $1.10 per million output tokens, DeepSeek has reduced the barriers to entry by more than 90% compared to some common 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 South for economic development and technological progress,” said Zhang Weiwei, deputy director of the Institute of Global Peace and Security Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.
Zhang said China’s open-source AI models enable countries to develop applications faster and cheaper, allowing more developing countries to benefit from technological advancements.
Promoting global cooperation to bridge the AI divide
With the rapid development of AI technologies, the global AI gap continues to widen. The World Bank’s 2025 Digital Progress and Trends Report highlighted significant gaps between high-income countries and middle- and low-income countries in AI systems and computing capacity. Furthermore, global data center resources remain heavily concentrated in developed economies, with Africa representing less than 1% of global capacity.
To address these widening disparities, Xi called on countries to help developing nations build AI capabilities, narrow the digital divide, and establish a globally accepted governance framework to ensure emerging technologies benefit all humanity.
China has long advocated for a fair and inclusive global AI governance system. In 2023, China proposed the Global AI Governance Initiative, followed in 2024 by the Action Plan for Building AI Capacity for the Common Good and All, and then, in 2025, by the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative. These initiatives aim to promote responsible development of AI and help bridge the digital divide.
China has also worked to establish platforms for international cooperation. She launched the Center for Innovative Global AI Governance (CGAIG) as well as the Group of Friends for International Cooperation on Capacity Building in AI, which bring together different countries to strengthen dialogue, share knowledge and build capacity.
The signing of the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization on Thursday in Shanghai marked a new step towards strengthening global cooperation in this area 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 make artificial intelligence a common driver of innovation and development, ensuring that the benefits of this transformative technology, once reserved for a handful of actors, benefit 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