China Committed to Making AI a Driver of Shared Prosperity Amid Widening Global AI Gap

Shanghai (ANTARA/PRNewswire) – As Pakistan enters its annual monsoon season, the ability to forecast the weather accurately is crucial for protecting public safety and reducing the impact on livelihoods. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), the MAZU meteorological system developed by China is now helping Pakistan detect potential extreme weather earlier and deliver warnings more promptly.

“Using this platform, we can predict floods, droughts and various other extreme weather events more accurately,” said Furrukh Bashir, head of the Research and Development Department at the Pakistan Meteorological Department. “We hope more innovations like this can be utilised by communities in many countries.”

The deployment of the MAZU system in a number of countries demonstrates how AI can be harnessed to address global challenges. Through open-source AI models, technological cooperation and various international initiatives, China is working to widen access to AI technology so that its benefits can reach an ever-growing number of countries.

Opening the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2026 and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all nations to put people first and to work together to build a fair and inclusive global AI governance framework.

“China, as a responsible major country, is always committed to providing international public goods in the field of AI,” Xi said.

Opening Up AI Access as a Shared Opportunity

At the event, Xi announced a number of measures to strengthen global AI development. These include assistance for 30 countries in using the MAZU meteorological system, providing 5,000 AI training opportunities for developing countries over the next five years, and establishing an international cooperation centre for joint AI applications with ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS.

In addition, China continues to promote the development of open-source AI models as part of efforts to create a more inclusive global AI ecosystem.

Chinese AI models such as DeepSeek and Alibaba’s Qwen have attracted widespread attention for offering high efficiency, more affordable costs and openness. This combination helps developers and businesses adopt AI technology at lower cost. Official data shows that cumulative global downloads of Chinese open-source AI models have now surpassed 10 billion.

In Africa, for example, DeepSeek’s open-source approach enables developers to download, modify and refine AI systems according to their needs. The approach also strengthens local digital capacity while fostering innovation developed by local talent.

In terms of cost, these models are considered far more efficient. With pricing of just US$0.27 per million input tokens and US$1.10 per million output tokens, DeepSeek cuts cost barriers by more than 90 per cent compared with a number of widely used Western AI models. This opens up greater opportunities for businesses and users across Africa to take part in digital transformation.

“China, as a developing country, understands the aspirations of many nations in the Global South to accelerate economic development and technological progress,” said Zhang Weiwei, Deputy Director of the Institute for World Peace and Security Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

According to Zhang, the open-source AI models developed by China help various countries build AI applications more quickly and at lower cost, allowing more developing nations to enjoy the benefits of technological advancement.

Promoting Global Cooperation to Close the AI Divide

The rapid development of AI has been accompanied by a widening gap in AI capabilities between nations. The World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025 shows a significant divide persists between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries, both in AI systems development and computing capacity. Meanwhile, global data centre capacity remains concentrated in developed countries, with Africa possessing less than 1 per cent of the world’s total capacity.

To address this divide, Xi called on all nations to help developing countries strengthen their AI capacity, narrow the digital gap, and build a widely acceptable global governance framework so that new technology genuinely benefits all of humanity.

Over recent years, China has consistently pushed for a fairer and more inclusive global AI governance framework. In 2023, China launched the Global AI Governance Initiative, followed by the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All in 2024 and the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative in 2025. These initiatives aim to promote responsible AI development and narrow the digital divide.

China has also expanded international cooperation through the establishment of the Centre for Global AI Innovative Governance (CGAIG) and the Group of Friends for International Cooperation on AI Capacity Building. Both platforms serve as venues for countries to strengthen dialogue, share knowledge and enhance AI capacity.

The signing of the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation in Shanghai last Thursday marks the next important step in strengthening global collaboration while promoting the development of AI that is safe, fair and beneficial for all.

Through developing open-source AI models, running training programmes and pursuing various global governance initiatives, China aims to make artificial intelligence a driver of innovation and shared development. The goal is that the benefits of this transformative technology, which have so far been enjoyed mostly by a handful of players, can reach more countries and communities around the world.