China poised to expand global access to AI despite rivalry with the US: Wang Jian
The prominent AI scholar says China’s data resources, power supply and industrial base position it to expand global access to the technology
Wang Jian, a prominent Chinese artificial intelligence scholar and director at Zhejiang Lab, said China had both the “resources and responsibility” to make AI more accessible globally at a time when other countries, such as the US, were increasingly acting in their own interests.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post on Wednesday on the sidelines of China’s annual annual legislative “two sessions” meetings in Beijing, Wang said the world remained far from the goal of turning AI into an “international public product” available to all.
Chinese President Xi Jinping first coined the phrase in a message to the World Smart Industry Expo in Chongqing in September, 2025.
Wang, a member of the CPPCC, stressed the importance of ensuring that both nations and individuals could benefit from AI capabilities.
When asked whether China had a responsibility to pursue that goal, Wang said the country was not only “definitely responsible” but also “the only country in the world that can still contribute to global technological advancement while committing to its ideals”.
He added that at a time when nations were increasingly acting in their own interests – with the US a typical example – China had the “resources and responsibility” to make AI equally accessible to everyone.