Beyond the AI Race: China’s Bid to Shape Global Rules

In September 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping met United States (US) President Donald Trump in Washington, where discussions on global AI governance were central to their agenda, although the two leaders held opposing positions. Ahead of the summit, the two sides formalised a “USA-China AI Dialogues” track built around an incident hotline. Trump, however, made it clear that Washington rejects any attempt to construct a “globalist” scheme to govern the technology. Xi called on both countries to jointly guard against AI misuse and keep it under human control.

On 16 July 2026, 35 states signed the founding agreement for the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO), a China-headquartered body established outside the Western-led AI governance architecture, with no leading Western democracy among its signatories.

Beijing, therefore, while speaking of multilateral governance in Washington, is also building a separate institutional architecture through WAICO on its own terms and with its own membership criteria. Together, these developments suggest a strategy aimed less at restraining AI and more at deciding who writes the rules for its governance.