China launches new intergovernmental AI body, WAICO, with 29 founding members

A new intergovernmental organisation aimed at coordinating artificial intelligence development and governance, the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), was established at a signing ceremony in Shanghai on 16 July. Representatives from 29 countries, including Kazakhstan, Laos, Pakistan, Russia and Indonesia, signed the founding agreement as members.

The initiative is being presented by Chinese officials and state commentary as a response to calls from Global South nations for greater representation in AI governance, an area they argue remains dominated by frameworks shaped around the priorities of developed economies.

A 2024 report by the UN High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence found that 118 countries, most in the Global South, are not party to any of seven prominent non-UN AI governance initiatives it examined.

China has positioned the organisation as an extension of a broader push into global technology governance, following earlier initiatives including the Global AI Governance Initiative, the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All, and the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative. Officials and commentators describe WAICO as a shift from advocating principles to building formal institutional infrastructure.

China holds a leading position across several AI metrics, including patent filings, research publications and downloads of its large language models. Its domestic AI industry was valued at more than RMB 1.2 trillion in 2025, according to figures cited by state commentary.

Beijing has also pointed to existing technology transfer efforts as evidence of its role in narrowing the AI divide, including the open-sourcing of models such as DeepSeek, support for a supercomputing centre in Zimbabwe, and deployment of the MAZU AI-based weather warning system in more than 40 countries.

The organisation’s remit as announced covers AI governance broadly rather than any single sector. Its structure and priorities, including whether health and life sciences applications feature as a distinct workstream, have not yet been detailed publicly.

Independent analysts have not yet assessed WAICO’s likely influence relative to existing multilateral AI governance efforts, including those coordinated through the United Nations, the OECD, and the G7’s Hiroshima AI process.