China Leads 29-Nation Launch of AI Governance Body WAICO

China proposed the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization in 2025 as an intergovernmental platform for open-source AI collaboration, capacity building and risk monitoring, with a focus on giving the Global South a greater role in governance. WAICO’s approach contrasts with the U.S.-led Joint Statement on AI Opportunity Partnership, signed by 35 nations on June 25, 2026, underscoring competing Chinese and American visions for AI rules, supply chains and access to technology.

Representatives of 29 countries, including China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan and Indonesia, signed WAICO’s founding agreement in Shanghai on July 16, 2026, becoming founding members of what Beijing calls the first international organization dedicated to AI cooperation and governance. The group will be headquartered in Shanghai. President Xi Jinping announced its creation the next day, saying China would provide 5,000 AI training places to developing countries over five years and give 30 countries access to a Chinese AI weather early-warning tool.