Beijing Review: Adapting to Change, Acting by Circumstances

BEIJING, Aug. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- AI is advancing at a breakneck speed, reshaping global development, creating vast opportunities and generating mounting risks that no country can face alone. On July 17-20, Shanghai hosted the 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, where stakeholders from around the world gathered to debate and align on the path forward.

At the event's opening ceremony, Chinese President Xi Jinping in his speech drew on age-old Chinese philosophical thinking to lay out a vision for balanced AI innovation and collaborative governance: "A man of wisdom adapts to changes; a man of knowledge acts by circumstances."

This line has its origins in the Discourses on Salt and Iron (Yan Tie Lun in Chinese), compiled by Huan Kuan of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 25). It means that the wise adapt their strategies to changing times, and the discerning craft their responses to unfolding events. The sentence embodies the Eastern wisdom of keeping pace with the times, adopting context-driven policies and practicing dynamic governance.

Today, a new round of technological revolution is gathering momentum. AI is reshaping industries, people's livelihoods, security and the global governance landscape at large.

AI is essentially reshaping every sector of the economy, driving what China calls "new quality productive forces," or a shift toward innovation-driven, high-quality growth powered by technology.

China has seized the moment. Its AI Plus Initiative is now embedding smart technologies across healthcare, manufacturing and everyday life. AI devices screen for signs of imminent stroke in minutes. Industrial models run smarter factories. Smart pharmacies and logistics are everywhere, and home wellness tech is on the rise.

At the same time, the country champions openness, international collaboration and shared benefits. Chinese open-source general-purpose AI models, including DeepSeek, Qwen and Zhipu GLM, are now accessible worldwide. MAZU, an AI‑powered meteorological system designed to provide universal early warnings, is contributing to global disaster prevention and mitigation efforts.

China attaches equal importance to innovation and security, keeping AI firmly anchored toward serving humanity. It pursues precise and inclusive dynamic regulation, continuously improves risk prevention systems, and stands firmly against using national security as a blanket justification to reject AI cooperation, or allowing any single country's security to come at the expense of others.

As AI advances rapidly, a host of new challenges are emerging, including algorithmic ethics, data security, transnational regulatory imbalances and the widening North‑South digital divide.

Creating a multilateral dialogue on global AI development has become an urgent, international demand; building a global AI governance framework that keeps pace with the times has become a worldwide consensus.

This year's WAIC witnessed the launch of the World AI Cooperation Organization, with 29 countries signing on to become founding members. The organization is to serve as a core global AI governance platform featuring extensive consultation, joint contributions and shared benefits.

To bridge the North-South digital divide, China has announced a package of practical measures to the benefit of other developing countries. Over the next five years, it will provide 5,000 opportunities in AI training and related seminars, develop international AI application cooperation centers together with ASEAN, the African Union and other regional bodies, as well as deliver inclusive technologies, including meteorological early warning systems and smart agriculture solutions, to more countries.

Going forward, China will work with all nations to build an open, inclusive, equitable and coordinated global AI governance system, ensuring that intelligent technologies continue to serve humanity's best interests.

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