China launches parallel AI order with 29 nations, offers 5,000 training slots

At the World AI Conference in Shanghai, Xi Jinping announced a significant commitment to AI capacity-building in the developing world: 5,000 AI training slots for Global South countries to be distributed over the next five years. This announcement came one day after 29 nations formally established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WIKO), with its headquarters in Shanghai. The organization was first proposed in 2025.

The founding membership reflects China's strategic outreach beyond the Western bloc. Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Pakistan, and Indonesia are among the 29 signatories—a coalition that deliberately excludes every major Western nation. This composition underscores China's intent to build an AI governance structure and set of norms that are independent of US and European influence and centered instead on partnerships with developing economies and geopolitical allies.

Beyond the institutional move, Xi used the platform to advance a critique of Western AI policy. He called for AI to remain under human control and pushed back against what he characterized as overly broad national security justifications in AI policy—a thinly veiled reference to US export controls on AI chips and technology. By framing such controls as excessive, Xi positioned China's approach as more balanced and governance-oriented. According to Xi, China's "Smart Economy," which encompasses AI and other digital technologies, is now worth over one trillion renminbi, roughly $140 billion（約22兆円）, reflecting the scale of China's AI infrastructure and economic footprint in the digital sector.

China's establishment of WIKO represents a deliberate effort to create a competing international AI governance framework that excludes Western influence and centers on relationships with the Global South and strategic partners like Russia. By hosting the organization in Shanghai and recruiting nations from Africa, South America, and Asia as founding members, China is positioning itself as an alternative leader for developing economies seeking AI capability-building without Western restrictions. The offer of 5,000 training slots is both a capacity-building incentive and a mechanism to deepen ties with these nations.

Xi's rhetorical pushback against "overly broad national security justifications" in AI policy directly targets US export controls on semiconductors and AI technology—controls that have constrained China's access to advanced chips. By framing such restrictions as overreach and calling for AI to remain under human control, Xi is advancing a narrative that positions China's approach as more measured and governance-focused than the West's. China's stated $140 billion（約22兆円） Smart Economy signals the scale of investment and infrastructure supporting this parallel order.

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