Multiple innovation achievements unveiled at 2026 World AI Conference in Shanghai

Major initiatives and innovation outcomes have been released at the 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai, where a series of frontier technologies and products are making their global debuts, highlighting China's latest advances in the AI sector.

For many, the World AI Conference, being held in Shanghai on July 17-20, represents an important platform for bringing countries together to address shared challenges, strengthen cooperation and ensure that more nations can participate in shaping the future of AI.

For the first time, the exhibition area exceeds 100,000 square meters, with over 1,100 enterprises participating. Organizers said exhibitors will showcase more than 3,000 products and technologies, with over 300 products making their global debuts.

At the conference, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), together with China Media Group (CMG) and other government departments, jointly issued two documents, including an action plan on AI cooperation and development.

The document outlines actions in eight areas covering data, computing power, ecosystems, industrial empowerment, talent development, rules and standards, governance and AI ethics.

Also released at the conference was a collection of case studies on China's international AI cooperation.

Published for the third consecutive year, the collection features 10 stories showcasing China's cooperation with partners around the world, highlighting the country's experience and approach in promoting global AI development.

In addition, a series of innovative outcomes were also unveiled on Friday, including an action plan on international AI ethics governance and a China-led global initiative on mutual trust and interconnectivity among AI agents.

"I think that they are great and Chinese [products] are developing really fast. And we are a European company and we want to help also European companies grow as well as Chinese companies. We are in the data field, so we basically do the data for the robots' intelligence," said a foreign visitor.

On Saturday, multiple sub-forums of the conference were held, focusing on hot topics such as global AI governance, embodied intelligence, and intelligent computing power. A series of high-level dialogues and achievement releases were carried out during these sessions.

"So AI can help us in that, but we need to be in the driver's seat. And in order to do that, we need AI ethics because AI ethics, I mean, the principles are there to protect us, protect the human rights, to protect the human beings, for example, from their data being kind of intercepted or being compromised or the privacy not being respected, et cetera. So it's very important," said Lampros Stergioulas, UNESCO Chair on AI and Data Science for Society as well as Professor in AI and Data Science for Society at The Hague University of Applied Sciences.

Multiple innovation achievements unveiled at 2026 World AI Conference in Shanghai

China's 16th Arctic Ocean expedition achieved the country's first video call spanning the North and South Poles on September 25, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival, using a domestically developed satellite system with a delay of no more than one second.

The expedition deployed four vessels -- Xuelong, Xuelong 2, Jidi, and Tansuo 3 -- to study extreme environmental changes in the Arctic amid accelerating global warming. On September 29, China's research icebreakers Xuelong and Xuelong 2 returned to Shanghai after completing their missions, while Jidi and Tansuo 3 continue their expedition tasks and are expected to return in mid-October following a three-month journey.

The expedition team held a satellite video conversation with China's Antarctic Qinling Station, extending festive greetings to their polar scientific research counterparts and testing a large-scale constellation designed to provide global broadband internet and support integrated space-Earth 6G networks.

"This is the first time that China has used a domestically developed communications satellite system to make a video call across the largest latitude span," said Liu Feng, a senior engineer at the National Marine Data and Information Service.

The around-13,000-satellite GW constellation, led by China Satellite Network Group (SatNet), is China's first mega low Earth orbit satellite internet project. During the polar test, the maximum uplink and downlink speed reached around 30 megabits per second, equivalent to taking about 10 minutes to download a 1GB file. The equipment can also be used for emergency rescue and maritime communications.

"During the test period, it also supported real-time communications among Xuelong, Jidi, Tansuo 3, the National Marine Data and Information Service and the Polar Research Center. After Jidi and Tansuo 3 entered ice zone operation areas, their communication could not be guaranteed. So file transfers and navigation logs had to be transmitted through the SatNet equipment," said Zhang Bin, an engineer at the National Marine Data and Information Service. The successful test of the domestically produced satellite communication equipment marks China's independent control over polar region communications. The equipment ensures that data remains within the country, effectively safeguarding data security.

China holds first video call between North, South Poles via homegrown satellite system