Press Conference | Intelligent Partners, Co-Create the Future! WAIC 2026 is About to Kick Off with the Premiere of Its Themed Promotional Video

Today (July 7), the Press Office of the Municipal Government held a press conference. Chen Jie, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Vice Mayor, introduced the preparation progress of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, as well as the development of the artificial intelligence industry. Sun Xiaobo, AI Affairs Coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Ruomeng, Deputy Director of the Department of Innovation and High-Tech Industry Development of the National Development and Reform Commission, Gan Xiaobin, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Tang Wenkan, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, and Zhou Jin, Vice President of the Easthao Lansheng Group, jointly attended the press conference and answered questions from reporters.

The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance is co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. It will kick off at the "Three Venues and Four Pavilions" (Expo, Zhangjiang, West Bund) from July 17 to 20. Centering on the theme of "Intelligent Partners, Co-Creating the Future", the conference sets up six major sectors: Forum Sessions, Exhibition Display, Awards & Competitions, Application Experience, Innovation Incubation, and Talent Recruitment. At present, all preparation work has entered the final sprint stage.

I. Focus on Global Wisdom, Elevate the Level of the Forum Framework

The conference plans more than 140 forums, collaborating with 12 national ministries and commissions, 8 national key laboratories, and over 10 international organizations, gathering more than 1,400 Chinese and foreign guests. The high-level international academic conference "WAIC Academic" is launched for the first time, led by Turing Award winners and Chinese and foreign academicians. So far, 284 submissions have been received, covering many countries and regions around the world, committed to building a top academic exchange platform in the field of artificial intelligence.

II. Nurture Youth Strength, Continuously Improve the Competition Matrix

Adhering to the principle of "gathering talents through competitions and promoting innovation through competitions", the conference fully upgrades the awards and competition system. Traditional brand competitions such as the SAIL Award, the Excellent Youth Paper Award, and the Cloud Sail Award are continuously optimized, and new AI events including the OPC Independent Pioneer Challenge and the Youth Investment Leader List are added, constructing a multi-level competition matrix covering top achievements, young talents, and youth popular science. A dedicated OPC exhibition area is set up for the first time, with 180 enterprises settled in, exploring talents through competitions and gathering young people through the platform.

III. Present Cutting-Edge Achievements, Set a New Record for Exhibition Scale

The total exhibition area exceeds 100,000 square meters for the first time, with more than 1,100 enterprises participating, over 3,000 exhibits on display, and more than 300 products making their global debut. The Intelligent Computing and Embodied Intelligence tracks each gather more than 200 enterprises. Dozens of leading chain owners, central state-owned enterprises, and top foreign enterprises participate in the exhibition together with their ecological partners, focusing on demonstrating the cutting-edge practices of artificial intelligence empowering thousands of industries.

IV. Deepen Ecological Services, Build a Full-Cycle Empowerment Platform

The conference launches five major ecological matrices: "Venture Capital, Connection, Intelligence, Youth Innovation, and Global Expansion", and simultaneously launches the AI-native platform "Hi WAIC", forming a closed-loop service covering "pre-conference, during-conference, and post-conference". In terms of industrial empowerment, 57 core scenarios have been promoted for implementation, with a total of 16.2 billion yuan in intended cooperation reached. In terms of capital docking, a dedicated capital docking zone has been set up, connecting more than 10 investment institutions and 200 professional investors. In terms of scenario experience, with the theme of "Companion Tour · My Modern Partner", a three-level immersive experience system covering pavilions, blocks, and the entire city is constructed, creating a unique city card of "AI Shanghai Tour".

Shanghai fully implements the spirit of Xi Jinping's important speeches, conscientiously implements the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and promotes a systematic improvement in the comprehensive strength of artificial intelligence. In 2025, the city's 394 AI enterprises above designated size achieved an industrial scale of over 637 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.5%, which has become a new driving force for the city's economic growth. At present, Shanghai has built a complete development ecosystem that integrates independent innovation, application traction, open cooperation, ecological collaboration, and security governance.

I. Adhere to Self-Reliance and Self-Improvement, Continuously Enhance the Level of Technology Supply

Advancing along both the "open source + commercial" paths, multiple basic large models have reached the world's top level, and 169 large models have passed the filing, providing underlying innovation support for new business forms such as OPC. The city's intelligent computing scale exceeds 160,000 P, strongly supporting the implementation of "AI+" applications in various industries.

II. Adhere to Market Orientation, Promote the Renewed Development of Advantageous Industrial Clusters

High-level construction of a national-level artificial intelligence application pilot base accelerates the in-depth integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. The "100 Teams, 100 Projects" initiative for scientific intelligence accelerates interdisciplinary collaborative research, with continuous emergence of industrial achievements. The entire embodied intelligence industry chain has been basically completed, and multiple embodied intelligence products have achieved mass production.

III. Adhere to Open Collaboration, Gather Momentum for the Industrial Innovation Ecosystem

The city has built large model industrial clusters in the "East and West", forming an industrial spatial layout of "two cores leading, multi-point linkage". Two artificial intelligence innovation towns in Zhangjiang and Beiyang have been completed, gathering a number of new R&D institutions, investment funds, and public service platforms, striving to build a development environment of "low innovation cost and high intelligence density".

IV. Adhere to Nurturing Talents, Initially Form a High Ground for Innovative Talents

Artificial intelligence is a young cause, and also a cause for young people. Shanghai has established the Zhichuang Academy, 14 universities have set up artificial intelligence research institutes, and 19 universities have offered AI-related majors. The city's total number of AI talents is nearly 300,000, accounting for about one-third of the national total. The city's open source communities gather more than 150,000 models, attracting over 10 million global developers.

V. Adhere to the Principle of AI for Good, Accelerate the Improvement of the Collaborative Governance System

The "Shanghai Declaration on Global AI Governance" and the "Global AI Governance Action Plan" are continuously implemented. International platforms such as the Global Industrial Artificial Intelligence Alliance Excellence Center and the China-BRICS AI Development and Cooperation Center have settled in Shanghai, and the Global AI Innovation Governance Center continues to promote international exchanges and dialogues.