# Top takeaways from Xi Jinping’s opening address at the World AI Conference in Shanghai

> Source: <https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3360870/top-takeaways-xi-jinpings-opening-address-world-ai-conference-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed>
> Published: 2026-07-17 03:09:11+00:00

# Top takeaways from Xi Jinping’s opening address at the World AI Conference in Shanghai

The speech marks the Chinese president’s first-ever keynote address at the nation’s premier artificial intelligence summit

[made a landmark speech](https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3360858/chinas-xi-jinping-addresses-world-ai-conference-us-tech-rivalry-heats?module=top_story&pgtype=homepage?module=inline&pgtype=article)at the World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, delivering his first-ever keynote address at the country’s premier artificial intelligence event.

Xi’s speech came just moments after his US counterpart, Donald Trump, delivered an unprecedented attack against Beijing during a prime-time national broadcast, accusing China of orchestrating the “largest compromise of election data in history”.

The dueling addresses are set to further fuel escalating geopolitical and technology tensions between the two rival powers.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the speech:

### Commitment to open source

Xi said China would seize the “rare historic opportunity” of AI-driven growth by “encouraging open source, openness, collaboration and sharing”, signalling the country’s commitment to the strategy, even amid concerns about open-weight AI’s future due to rising security risks.

The open approach could boost technological innovation, industrial development and applications so that “all sectors and businesses can benefit from AI”, Xi said.