China eyes AI application cooperation center with SCO nations

China on Thursday announced a plan to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) application cooperation center together with member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and pledged to ramp up cooperation in providing open-source services among them in order to deepen technology integration.

The initiative was revealed during a high-level AI Cooperation forum between China and SCO held in North China's Tianjin on Thursday, which aimed to explore ways to strengthen cooperation in emerging tech fields and foster practical cooperation in AI development and governance between China and SCO members.

Once established, the cooperation center is expected to play a significant role in bolstering AI development, expanding open-source services, supporting industry collaboration and nurturing talent, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Thursday.

Under the initiative, China pledged to jointly develop high-quality datasets and corpora, promote secure and orderly cross-border data flows, as well as AI models sharing. Additional plans include developing sovereign AI models, mutual recognition of AI standards, create a green channel for AI industry supply-demand alignment, and implement systematic training programs to boost personnel exchanges.

Zhang Hong, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, praised the growing collaboration between China and SCO countries in cutting-edge technologies aligns with global tech trends, while addressing SCO member states' needs for economic transformation.

At Thursday's forum, China proposed a four-point plan to enhance policy coordination, expand technological collaboration, promote application empowerment, and strengthen AI governance, and participating countries all agreed to accelerate the development of high-quality datasets and corpora, as well as to conduct joint research on frontier AI technologies.

The 2025 China-SCO AI Cooperation Forum was co-hosted by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Tianjin municipal government.

An NDRC official said at the forum that the SCO, as the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographical coverage and population, possesses abundant data resources and diverse application scenarios, according to the CMG report. "Strengthening cooperation in AI is poised to inject new momentum into the economic development of all SCO member states," the official said.

Zhang added that China has made rapid advancement in AI research and development, as Chinese AI models like DeepSeek are significantly lowering technological barriers, making AI deployment more accessible, breaking the "technological walls" erected by certain countries.

China has also offered abundant free or low-cost research resources and platforms, enabling SCO countries to advance AI application in areas such as digital infrastructure, governance, and public services, according to Zhang.

Zhang described the cooperation as "mutually beneficial," noting that it not only drives socioeconomic development but also creates opportunities for Chinese technology to be used globally.

As of April 2025, China's AI patent applications have exceeded 1.5 million, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the global total, making it a global leader in this metric, official data showed. The country has built a relatively complete AI ecosystem and is committed to offering more AI public goods to the world, according to NDRC.

From July 10-11, 2025, Tianjin will host a SCO digital economy forum, which will focus on urban digital transformation, digital technology innovation, and digital infrastructure development, according to another CMG report.

Zhang noted that the deepening cooperation in a host of emerging technologies highlights the SCO's growing impact in global economic and technological agendas. "It manifests the organization's evolving role as an international cooperation mechanism that amplifies the voice and influence of many developing nations."

Since its founding, the SCO has seen deepening economic cooperation across many industrial sectors. In 2024, trade between China and SCO members, observers, and dialogue partners reached $890 billion, setting a historic high, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

Amid the current Western-dominated global AI governance structure, the developing countries must enhance cooperation to build up their influence, Zhang said. "Leveraging multilateral platforms like the SCO, China can help the developing countries to adopt cutting-edge technologies such as AI, contributing to a more multipolar and equitable global technology governance framework," he added.