China Insider | Xi Jinping’s Speech at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Typhoon Noul Makes Landfall in Southern China, 2026 Fields Medal Recipients Hong Wang and Yu Deng

**Miles Yu** (0:00)
Welcome to China Insider, a podcast from the Hudson Institute's China Center. I am Miles Yu, Senior Fellow and Director of the China Center. Join me each week for our analysis of the major events concerning China, China threat, and their implications to the US and beyond.

**Colin** (0:26)
It's Tuesday, July 28th, and we have three topics this week. First, we look into statements from President Xi Jinping at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai and how China plans to use AI as a platform to extend its global dominance, initiatives, and influence.
Next, we cover the latest from Southern China as Typhoon Nol made landfall over the weekend and detailed China's response to the current situation in Guangdong and surrounding provinces and the emerging crisis. Finally, two Chinese mathematicians became the first ever recipients of the Fields Medal for China, and we examine their contributions as well as the impact this recognition will have in Chinese academic circles. Miles, great to see you again as always. How are you doing this week?

**Miles Yu** (1:07)
This week is doing well. Hope you're doing the same.

**Colin** (1:09)
Likewise. So up first today, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference was held in Shanghai where President Xi Jinping delivered a speech that placed China as the champion of a new global AI order, leveraging their premier tech conference to promote development of advanced open source models and challenge the US led influence over the current set of global regulations governing the industry. For our listeners, the WAIC is an annual international conference that's held every July in Shanghai, I think, since 2018
It's hosted by various central government departments, the China Association for Science and Technology and the Academy of the Sciences, and takes the form of an exposition of sorts, including plenary meetings, demonstrations and industry related activities. So Miles, what were the key highlights from Xi's remarks at this year's conference? And were there any other notable developments from the forum this year?

**Miles Yu** (2:09)
Well, basically, he gave a speech at this year's WAIC. This is the first time Xi Jinping actually showed up in person.
He gave a speech, kind of a long winding, and mostly talked about two things. One is he was talking about the high rhetoric of open cooperation, the openness. He wanted to have open source cooperation globally. And secondly, he used this forum to basically launch typical communist propaganda, lambasting the monopolization by a handful of countries or companies basically in the United States.
This is the equivalent of Adolf Hitler going to Munich, advocating for racial equality globally. I mean, China is not really a champion for open cooperation in anything. So it is very, very ironic. While Xi Jinping was calling for openness in AI, but China's domestic air policy is pointed in the exact opposite direction. Every major Chinese air companies, that would include Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei, Pidance, DeepSec and others, operates under CCP supervision and is legally obligated to support national intelligence system. So China maintains one of the world's most restrictive, the mostly restrictive information environment through the Great Firewall. Western AI platforms such as search engines, social media and many foreign datasets are completely blocked while Chinese firms enjoy a protected domestic market. So AI development is integrated into the CCP's military civil fusion strategy. That would mean that any advance in civilian AI is expected to benefit the People's Revolutionary Army. So it's sort of weaponized, literally. So the very, very interesting thing is that most importantly, AI system is basically the content creation and database. The Chinese generated AI systems must comply with extensive content regulations prohibiting outputs that challenge CCP's authority in any way or shape or form. So discuss politically sensitive events.
Even the cartoon image of the Supreme Leader, I mean this contradict official ideology, will be punished severely by the government. So China's vision is not really the open AI ecosystem. It's nothing but the state-directed AI ecosystem. So that's why it's very ironic to hear Xi Jinping talking about this open AI cooperation globally. It sounds very hollow to me.

**Colin** (5:17)
Yeah, I listened to his speech, and this very much sounded like Xi all but confirmed that AI will be China's path forward to achieving their ambitions for global dominance with mention of China's AI coalition as the rival to Western-led PAC-Silica initiatives that secure global AI and critical mineral supply chains. And he even went as far as to compare AI significance to the invention of the steam engine and electricity.
So kind of building on this, Miles, what is your assessment on the current AI landscape and strategic competition between the US and its allies and China within this sphere? What do you think it is about China's AI industry that gives Xi at least public confidence to assert these claims for a new global order? Or is this kind of him grasping at whatever he possibly can to address the current economic conditions and concerns domestically within China?