International participants at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai have called for cooperation to build a more inclusive framework for AI development.
On Thursday, 29 countries signed an agreement in Shanghai to establish World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, one day before this year's World Artificial Intelligence Conference, which kicked off on Friday. With the theme of "AI Partnership for a Brighter Future, the conference brings together policymakers, researchers and industry leaders from around the world.
More than 140 forums are being held during the four-day event. Many of them focus on global AI governance.
One such forum, hosted by Fudan University on Friday, explored ways to strengthen international cooperation and build a more inclusive framework for AI development.
During the forum, Fudan University released several of its latest research findings, including a Global AI Governance Index that evaluates international AI governance from the perspective of the Global South.
"We have a series of reports to release today to showcase the perspective and stands of China and the Global South, and also solutions we provide," said Chen Zhimin, vice president of Fudan University.
Many international guests attending the World AI Conference this year have voiced their support for greater cooperation on AI.
"More AI cooperation is definitely needed. But I think the UN also has a lot to contribute, especially UNEP; we work on AI for the environment and on sustainable AI, so bringing that perspective in, I think, is going to be very important. So we are ready to get involved and to help out and to see what we can do on the environment side," said Golestan (Sally) Radwan, chief digital officer of the United Nations Environment Program.
Over the next five years, China plans to provide developing countries with 5,000 opportunities for AI training and seminars to further support global AI development and advance global AI capacity building.
"President Xi connected a very broad and global vision to very practical collaborative opportunities and gave the numbers when he said we'll train these many students. I mean, that's a real number that is there, that will have to be met. I think that's very exciting. I think the others will be closely following that and see what can be done," said Danil Kerimi, vice-chair of the WIPO Independent Advisory Oversight Committee.
Experts call for cooperation to build more inclusive AI framework
For more than 1,000 years, Jingdezhen, the "porcelain capital" in east China's Jiangxi Province, has shaped how the world understands porcelain, with even discarded shards preserving a living tradition.
Weng Yanjun, president of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute, reflected on the scale and challenge behind Jingdezhen's historic creations.
"When I look at this gigantic dragon jar, I couldn't help going back to 600 years ago, when the emperor had this order to create something bigger than ever before. The failure rate of the dragon jar is so high. It could be nine out of 10. Even making failure products like this takes courage, takes techniques and takes commitment," said Weng.
Those failed attempts, once discarded, now preserve the evidence of how Jingdezhen pursued perfection.
For more than 1,000 years, Jingdezhen's porcelain industry has endured through the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (960-1911). What has survived is not only its porcelain, but also a living heritage of raw materials, workshops, kilns and specialized craftsmanship.
Those firings produced masterpieces as well as failures, with the discarded pieces forming another kind of archive.
At the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute, Weng told archaeology students that fragmented specimens sometimes provide more information than complete artifacts.
Weng leads the development of the world's first Ancient Ceramics Gene Bank, which extracts and catalogs the defining characteristics of each ceramic shard.
"For our institute alone, we have excavated more than 20 million pieces of shards for the past over 1,200 years. Among those shards, we do sorting, we do restoration, and we do scientific tests. And then we find, wow, a small shard can tell us much more information than even a whole piece," said Weng.
Using a standardized sample library and unified data framework, the project records each piece's shape, decoration, body material, glaze, color, firing marks and inscriptions, creating a valuable resource for authentication and research around the world.
"The whole city is a wonderful lab and space range makes Jingdezhen uniquely a wonderful example of how the handicraft ancient industry with porcelain as the focus survived even to today," Weng added.
Jingdezhen once helped establish benchmarks for how porcelain was made. Now, the gene bank is turning fragments into a language that can be read beyond the city. For French artist and researcher Yann Colleu, learning to read that language has also changed the way he creates.
"Since my childhood, my parents had these teapots, tea sets, plates and cups. I was very curious about the pattern, like the meaning, what was behind it? Actually when I discovered in Jingdezhen that it was a bat, because of 'fu' and 'fu' is fortune, but also you have the 'wufu,' like the five blessings. I was like a child with stars in the eyes, discovering the world for the first time," said Colleu, PhD candidate at Jingdezhen Ceramic University.
What once seemed abstract became part of Yann's own visual language. In his work, traditional Jingdezhen motifs and production scenes are reimagined through a contemporary, cross-cultural lens.
"Jingdezhen is a timeless city. The past, the present and even the future are tied together. This is one of illustration of 72 traditional steps developing during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The difference is, instead of using Chinese characters, I use foreigners. I want to use the past to talk about the present and even the future with Jingdezhen," said Colleu.
The Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on Saturday. The inscription recognizes not just a single kiln or masterpiece, but an entire production system, from its archaeological remains and traditional craftsmanship to its industrial knowledge and global influence.
Porcelain shards preserve Jingdezhen’s timeless legacy
