Chinese ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang has called for closer cooperation between China and Britain on artificial intelligence, arguing that both nations stand to gain significantly by working together rather than competing in isolation. Writing in an opinion piece, he emphasised that the future of AI hinges on openness and collaboration, particularly in manufacturing, healthcare, research and governance.
World AI Conference highlights global cooperation
The 2026 World AI Conference, held last week in Shanghai, brought together representatives from more than 100 countries and international organisations. The conference focused on how AI can better serve humanity and how to build a more inclusive and effective global governance framework. The UK sent a delegation to the event, which Zheng welcomed as a positive step.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote address, calling on all countries to "boost innovation-driven development" in a spirit of openness and mutual benefit. He stressed the need to strengthen risk-awareness, ensure AI is secure and controllable, and promote inclusiveness and mutual learning between civilisations. Xi also emphasised the importance of improving global AI governance together.
China's AI initiatives and open-source models
To support global AI development, China announced that over the next five years it will provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities in AI training and seminar programmes. China will also develop international AI-application cooperation centres with ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, CELAC, the SCO, and fellow Bric countries. Additionally, 30 nations will gain access to Mazu, an AI-powered early-warning weather system.
Zheng noted that China's AI industry exceeded 1.2tn yuan (about £130bn) in 2025, with a large number of AI companies growing rapidly. He highlighted the success of open-source models such as Qwen, DeepSeek and Kimi, which demonstrate that advanced AI capabilities can be developed at lower cost and made accessible to a wider community. "Lowering the barriers to innovation allows more countries, researchers and smaller enterprises to participate in the AI revolution instead of being left behind," he wrote.
Complementary strengths between China and UK
Zheng argued that no country has a monopoly on innovation. "Different nations bring different strengths to AI development, and lasting progress will depend on how well those strengths complement one another rather than compete in isolation," he said. The UK has a competitive edge in frontier research, life sciences, financial services and AI innovation, while China excels in advanced manufacturing, engineering, large-scale industrial deployment and a vast market for AI applications.
In healthcare, combining British biomedical research with China's ability to deploy AI at scale could accelerate drug discovery, improve medical imaging and enhance healthcare delivery. In manufacturing, pairing British innovation with China's industrial capabilities could speed up the adoption of smarter, cleaner and more efficient production. Joint research could also contribute to internationally applicable standards for AI safety, testing and evaluation.
Call for increased exchanges and cooperation
Zheng urged policymakers, researchers and business leaders from both countries to increase exchanges and translate dialogue into joint research, commercial partnerships and closer cooperation on AI governance. "For China, for Britain and for the wider world, cooperation is not simply desirable. It is the right way forward to ensure that AI develops in a way that benefits us all," he concluded.
