Major projects worth more than 20 billion yuan (about 2.95 billion U.S dollars) were signed at the four-day 2026 World AI Conference in Shanghai, which concluded Monday.
The event drew representatives from over 100 countries and international organizations. It featured 140 forum sessions and more than 1,100 enterprises presenting over 3,000 products.
Official data show 177 procurement delegations attended, with intended purchases worth about 20.36 billion yuan, up 25 percent year on year.
Beyond the procurement figures, experts highlighted advances in AI models. "Through generalist-specialist integration, we have enabled the model to not only possess long-range independent thinking ability but also to navigate and explore on its own under conditions of uncertainty," said Zhou Bowen, director and chief scientist of the Shanghai AI Laboratory. A Centaur-like robot, which made its global debut at this year's event, is primarily designed for special operation scenarios such as fire rescue and emergency disaster relief. After four days on display, it has already secured 100 intended orders.
"The product has drawn significant attention and favor during the past few days, and has already secured several intended contracts. This year's WAIC exhibition features a notable trend: the push to make robots and AI truly useful in real-world applications," said Zhou Bin, CEO of the robot's developer Shanghai Runke Juneng Technology Co., Ltd.
Some 4,486 exhibits went on display at this year’s event, including 351 global debuts. Key projects were signed across sectors from smart manufacturing and healthcare to embodied intelligence and space computing.
"We are now in the midst of an AI boom, with AI entering every industry. From generative AI to AI agents, and soon physical AI and embodied AI, AI is set to enhance work efficiency and productivity across the board. This will significantly boost economic transformation and empower various industries through new quality productive forces," said Zhang Jianzhong, CEO and President at Moore Threads Technology Co., Ltd.
Major projects worth over 20 bln yuan signed at World AI Conference in Shanghai
As the most important anchor of stability in the region, China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Manila, the Philippines on Tuesday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during his meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn.
Wang stated that China has always upheld the equality of all countries and pursued a policy of good-neighborliness and friendship with neighboring countries.
He noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). China was the first major country to accede to the treaty, prompting other major countries to follow suit and significantly elevating ASEAN's international standing, said Wang, noting China will continue to support ASEAN Community-building and ASEAN's pursuit of unity and self-strengthening.
Wang mentioned that this year also marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, a pivotal year bridging past achievements and future cooperation. He added that the world is undergoing profound changes intertwined with turbulence, yet East Asia has generally maintained prosperity and stability -- a hard-won situation that all parties should cherish.
Wang said that China stands ready to work with ASEAN to deepen mutual trust, enhance mutual understanding and mutual support, safeguard the common interests of China and ASEAN, uphold the legitimate rights and interests of the Global South, and advance the development of a more just and reasonable international order.
Wang mentioned that China just successfully hosted the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, where it proposed the establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. The organization aims to boost AI capacity-building for Global South countries, enabling them to ride the wave of the times and advance their own development and modernization.
He said China looks forward to ASEAN's continued active participation in international AI cooperation and welcomes more ASEAN nations to join the organization.
On the South China Sea, Wang described it as a shared home for regional countries. He said South China Sea issues should not become a stumbling block to China-ASEAN relations.
Wang said certain forces within the Philippine military and maritime law enforcement ranks have deliberately provoked incidents in the South China Sea to serve the interests of external forces, undermining the process of improving China-Philippines relations as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Wang said China stands ready to work with ASEAN to remove disruptive factors, accelerate consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, jointly foster a new narrative of peace, stability, cooperation and friendship in the South China Sea, and keep the initiative on South China Sea issues firmly in the hands of regional countries.
Kao spoke highly of ASEAN-China relations and the outcomes of practical cooperation between the two sides, and thanked China for its firm support for ASEAN's centrality in regional architecture. He added that ASEAN and China are inseparable neighbors, and China is ASEAN's most important comprehensive strategic partner, with the two sides having established 65 cooperation mechanisms.
Kao said that ASEAN looks forward to closer strategic alignment with China, deeper practical cooperation in trade, investment, digital economy and other sectors, more people-to-people exchanges, and steady progress in ASEAN-China relations.
Kao noted that ASEAN endorses the "dual-track approach," supports acceleration of consultations on the COC, and strives to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. He said ASEAN is ready to work alongside China to jointly uphold regional peace and stability and make important contributions to development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Wang also met Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan on Tuesday.
China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN: FM
