China is set to strengthen its global AI ambitions as President Xi Jinping is expected to present the country’s vision for international AI governance at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai.
His first-ever appearance at the annual event highlights Beijing’s focus on AI as both a driver of economic growth and a key strategic technology.
During the July 17–20 conference, Huawei will publicly introduce its Atlas 950 SuperPoD AI computing system. Built for large-scale AI training and inference, the platform connects thousands of Huawei Ascend AI processors through high-speed interconnects, creating a unified computing cluster. The launch marks another step in China’s efforts to develop advanced AI infrastructure without relying on Nvidia’s most advanced chips.
DeepSeek’s latest V4 AI model has also been fully adapted to run on Huawei Ascend chip clusters, reflecting China’s progress in building an independent AI ecosystem. Chinese media also reported that chipmakers Biren and MetaX will introduce new “supernode” AI computing clusters during the event.
The conference comes ahead of the first government-level AI talks between the U.S. and China under President Donald Trump’s administration. The 2 countries recently presented contrasting approaches to AI governance at a UN dialogue, with the U.S. opposing broad regulation while China promoted its low-cost, open-source AI models as a way to reduce global AI inequality.
George Chen, Chair of Digital Practice at the Asia Group, wrote, “Against this backdrop, WAIC has become more than a technology showcase; it is now a geopolitical stage where Beijing seeks to articulate its vision of AI as both a national priority and a diplomatic instrument.”
In a January speech, Xi described AI as an “epoch-making, major technological transformation following the steam engine,” highlighting China’s long-term commitment to AI-led growth and technological self-reliance.
China is also expected to provide updates on its proposed World AI Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) and the Global AI Governance Initiative. Alongside Chinese technology leaders, the event will host UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and AI pioneers Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton. Additional launches are expected to include AI agent smartphones from ZTE-owned Nubia and AI startup StepFun.
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