China's Xi pushes for global AI body at APEC in counter to US

The Chinese president says the body can set governance rules and boost cooperation, making AI a "public good for the international community"

China's President Xi Jinping speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Nov 1, 2025. REUTERS

Chinese President Xi Jinping took centrestage at a meeting of APEC leaders on Saturday to push a proposal for a global body to govern artificial intelligence and position China as an alternative to the United States on trade cooperation.

The comments were the first by the Chinese leader on an initiative Beijing unveiled this year, while the United States has rejected efforts to regulate AI in international bodies.

Xi said a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization could set governance rules and boost cooperation, making AI a "public good for the international community".

In remarks published by the official news agency Xinhua, Xi added: "Artificial intelligence is of great significance for future development and should be made for the benefit of people in all countries and regions."

Chinese officials have said the organisation could be based in the commercial hub of Shanghai.

US President Donald Trump did not attend the APEC leaders' summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, flying back to Washington directly after a meeting with Xi.

The two leaders' talks yielded a one-year deal to partially roll back trade and technology controls that had spiked tension between the world's two biggest economies.

In Trump's absence, analysts had expected Xi to use the APEC meeting to promote China as champion for its own brand of multilateral cooperation on trade and economic development.

While advanced chips made by California-based Nvidia are central to the AI boom, China-based developer DeepSeek has rolled out lower-cost models taken up by Beijing in a push for what it calls "algorithmic sovereignty".

Xi also urged APEC to promote the "free circulation" of green technologies, a cluster of industries from batteries to solar panels that China dominates.

APEC members approved a joint declaration and pacts on AI and the challenge of ageing populations at the meeting.

China will host the 2026 APEC summit in Shenzhen, a major hub for manufacturing, from robotics to electric car production.

Xi said the city of nearly 18 million had been a fishing village until it boomed as one of China's first special economic zones in the 1980s.

APEC is a consultative forum of 21 nations representing half of global trade.