China’s push to train thousands of people from developing countries in artificial intelligence (AI) through its newly launched World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) could help narrow the global digital divide, while also extend Beijing’s global influence in a manner similar to the Belt and Road Initiative, experts say.
Shanghai International Studies University’s Shinan Hao, an assistant professor of international relations pointed to how the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has broadened China’s global footprint through ports, railways, energy and telecommunications infrastructure. China’s new AI agenda, he argued, could extend that model into the digital sphere, particularly if open-source cooperation requires new infrastructure investment across the Global South.
“As developing countries adopt Chinese AI models, infrastructure and technical standards, their economic and technological links with China are likely to deepen. In this sense, AI cooperation could become a new, more knowledge-intensive phase of the Belt and Road,” Hao told Eco-Business.
BRI, China’s flagship global infrastructure strategy, has financed and built major projects linking China with developing economies across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Xue Lan, dean of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University and a leading scholar of public policy and global AI governance, offered a different view. China’s concern about the global digital divide is genuine and that its training efforts could deliver real benefits, he said.
“To think of this technical assistance as an opportunity to impose its values over others is really a far-fetched fantasy. We don’t have to put everything under a geopolitical lens. I am sure that China would welcome the United States to join its effort in AI capacity-building for developing countries,” Xue told Eco-Business.
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To think of this technical assistance as an opportunity to impose its values over others is really a far-fetched fantasy. We don’t have to put everything under a geopolitical lens.
Xue Lan, dean, Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University
The US has been advancing its own AI-led coalition under Pax Silica, which focuses on securing the full AI supply chain – from chips and critical minerals to manufacturing, energy and infrastructure. WAICO, by contrast, is positioned as a China-led multilateral platform for AI governance and access aligned with the principles of the United Stations Charter and a ‘people-centered’ approach.
Unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping on 17 July, the 29-member WAICO is among Beijing’s most ambitious efforts yet to shape an alternative global order to the US-led West.
Pax Silica counts Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan and India among its members, while WAICO’s founding members include Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Hao said WAICO could give China a “first-mover advantage” in emerging AI markets, helping Chinese firms gain access to new customers, practical use cases and institutional partnerships across the developing world.
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Western countries and their partners may view Chinese participation in AI governance as an attempt to export its standards or create competing technological spheres.
Shinan Hao, assistant professor of of international relations, Shanghai International Studies University
However, he warned the same influence “may intensify friction” with the US-led Pax Silica bloc.
“Western countries and their partners may view Chinese participation in AI governance as an attempt to export its standards or create competing technological spheres. This could increase regulatory fragmentation and even geopolitical pressure on developing countries to choose between rival systems,” he added.
Such dynamics are already visible in Southeast Asia, where the China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) AI Cooperation Center is linking Chinese technology with reegional needs in healthcare, transport, agriculture and public administration, he said.
WAICO could provide a broader institutional backbone, turning individual commercial projects into a more stable network that combines technology, infrastructure, training, financing and governance cooperation, he added.
While Pax Silica is centered on secure AI and semiconductor supply chains among the US and trusted partners, China is focusing on affordable applications, open-source models and capacity-building, he noted.
“China’s comparative advantage is therefore to help Asean countries generate AI demand from the ground up. This could make Chinese technology more deeply embedded in Southeast Asia even as Pax Silica expands, while also allowing Asean countries to benefit from competition rather than being forced to rely exclusively on one technological bloc,” he said.
