KARPACZ, Poland, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- China has made substantial progress in artificial intelligence (AI), and its development-oriented and inclusive approach to AI governance is also gaining global significance, a Polish AI scholar has said.
"China has done something quite unusual in AI in less than a decade," Lukasz Gacek, head of the Department of China at the Institute of the Middle and Far East at Jagiellonian University, told Xinhua in a recent interview on the sidelines of the 35th Economic Forum in Karpacz, southwestern Poland.
Gacek has been an expert on contemporary China, global governance, energy transition and AI in international politics.
Gacek closely followed the rollout of China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan in 2017, when he was working in Shanghai. The strategy set out a three-stage roadmap: keeping pace with leading countries in AI technology and applications by 2020, achieving major theoretical breakthroughs by 2025, and becoming a major global center for AI innovation by 2030.
"What caught my attention was how quickly the plan moved beyond government institutions and entered universities, companies and other fields," Gacek said.
One example, Gacek said, is the rapid expansion of AI education since 2017. Around that time, Chinese universities were beginning to establish dedicated AI degree programs. Less than a decade later, his research shows that more than 300 Chinese universities offer dedicated AI degree programs, while hundreds of others have introduced AI-related courses or integrated AI into their broader curricula.
In his view, the significance of China's experience extends beyond its technological progress. China has brought greater attention to capacity-building and the participation of developing countries in global discussions on AI governance.
Much of the international discussion on AI has focused on safety, regulation and competition among leading technological powers. China, Gacek said, has raised an important question: How can countries without advanced chips, large AI models or sufficient computing infrastructure participate meaningfully in the AI transformation?
In July 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted a China-led resolution on strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity-building. Later that year, China put forward an action plan for inclusive AI development, with proposals covering infrastructure, open-source cooperation, training and exchanges on AI governance.
Gacek added that similar priorities can be seen in China's cooperation with African countries, ASEAN members and BRICS countries.
This has particular appeal for developing countries, as it promises to help them build their own technological capacity and gain a stronger voice in shaping the rules governing emerging technologies, Gacek said. ■
